//  /c« 


O  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  -^^ 


Presented  by  Mr.  Samuel  Agnew  of  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Division  s^p^-.,^  >*«^ 

Number 


% 


# 


TREATISE 


ON    THE 


MILLENNIUM; 

IN   WHICH 

THE   PREVAILING  THEORIES   ON   THAT   SUBJECT   ARE 
CAREFULLY  EXAMINED: 


THE    TRUE    SCRIPTURAL    DOCTRINE    ATTEMPTED 
TO  BE  ELICITED  AND  ESTABLISHED. 


BY   GEORGE '^USH,  A.M. 

AUTHOR 
OF  '  QUESTIONS  AND  NOTES  UPON  GENESIS  AND  EXODUS.' 


NEW-YORK : 

PRINTED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  J.  &  J.  HARPER, 

No.  '82    CLIFF-S  T  R  E  E  T. 

AND    SOLD    BY    THE    PRINCIPAL    BOOKSELLERS    THROUGHOUT    THE 
UNITED    STATES. 

18  32. 


[Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1832,  by  J.  if  3.  Harper,  in 
the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 1 


'^^^j:  X 


PREFACE. 


It  is  matter  of  deep  regret  that  the  popular  vo- 
cabulary of  Christian  doctrine  should  contain  so 
large  a  proportion  of  vague  and  undefined  or  ill- 
defined  terms.  That  a  religion  based  upon  a  reve- 
lation from  heaven,  designed,  not  to  confound,  but  to 
instruct  its  votaries, — a  religion  naturally  to  be 
regarded  as  the  native  element  of  Truth,  the  appro- 
priate sphere  of  clear  knov^ledge  and  unambiguous 
diction,  from  which  the  dimning  and  darkening  mys- 
tifications of  error  were  entirely  banished, — that  such 
a  religion,  in  the  utterances  of  its  disciples,  should 
abound  in  terms  and  phrases,  many  of  them  of 
incessant  recurrence,  to  which  no  precise  ideas  were 
ordinarily  affixed,  is  certainly  an  infelicity  never 
enough  to  be  deplored.  Hence  the  angry  contro- 
versies which  have  agitated  and  rent  so  often  the 
Christian  world.  Hence  too  the  ill-starred  partition 
of  the  church  into  various  conflicting  sects,  each 
clustering  pertinaciously  around  some  chosen  form 
of  words,  which  its  opponent  as  pertinaciously  re- 
jects. That  this  diversity  of  creed  among  Christians, 
like  every  other  species  of  evil,  is  overruled,  in  the 
counsels  of  God,  for  good,  cannot  be  questioned  for  a 
moment ;  yet  as  little,  we  think,  is  it  to  be  doubted 


IV  PREFACE. 

that  the  thing  in  itself  is  an  evil,  and  one  which  the 
more  perfect  operation  of  Christianity  will  finally 
do  away. 

We  are  well  aware  that  this  ambiguity  of  lan- 
guage, and  the  consequent  indefiniteness  of  appre- 
hension which  obtains  in  regard  to  the  objects  of 
religious  faith,  arises  in  great  measure  from  the 
intrinsically  mysterious  nature  of  the  subject-matter 
of  revelation,  and  the  limited  grasp  of  the  human 
intellect,  so  unequal  to  the  mastery  of  the  grand  and 
overwhelming  themes  of  the  inspired  oracles.  But 
after  every  abatement  on  this  score,  the  conviction 
still  remains,  that  a  less  pardonable  cause  is  at  the 
bottom  of  much  of  the  evil  of  which  we  complain. 
It  cannot  surely  be  doubted  that  the  sacred  volume 
was  given  to  man  in  order  to  he  understood.  It 
would  be  at  once  a  gross  misnomer  as  to  the  book 
itself, and  a  foul  reflection  upon  its  Author,  to  denom- 
inate that  a  revelation  which  was  at  the  same  time 
so  shrouded  in  triple  mystery  as  to  baffle  the  dis- 
cernment of  the  unlettered,  and  to  mock  the  prying 
researches  of  the  curious  and  the  learned.  Not 
that  we  count  upon  the  practicability  of  all  classes 
of  readers  becoming  equally  well  versed  in  its  con- 
tents ;  for  as  this  revelation  is  couched  in  languages 
w  hich  have  ceased  to  be  vernacular  to  the  people 
of  any  nation,  a  superior  insight  into  its  disclosures 
will  ever  accrue  to  those  who  make  themselves 
familiar  with  the  sacred  original  tongues;  and  as 
the  facilities  for  this  attainment  are  constantly  in- 
creasing, and  light  is  pouring  in  from  numerous 
other  sources  upon  the  interpretation  of  the  inspired 


PREFACE.  V 

writings,  it  is  easily  conceivable  that  each  successive 
generation  shall  advance  far  beyond  its  immediate 
predecessor  in  every  department  of  biblical  science. 
In  seeking,  therefore,  for  the  source  of  that '  blind- 
ness in  part,'  which  hath  happened  to  the  religionists 
of  every  age,  we  cannot  be  mistaken  in  referring  it, 
in  great  measure,  to  the  neglect  of  the  original  lan- 
guages of  Scripture.  Men  have  not  been  studious 
to  ascertain  with  absolute  precision  the  ideas  attached 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  words  and  phj-ases  em- 
ployed by  the  sacred  penmen.  Neglecting  the  canons 
of  philology,  heedless  of  investigating  the  usus 
loquendi  in  respect  to  leading  words  and  phrases, 
and  paying  but  slight  attention  to  the  sources  of 
archaeological  illustration,  they  have  too  often  im- 
posed a  construction  upon  the  language  of  holy  writ 
derived  from  the  systems  of  the  schools,  the  placets 
of  renowned  doctors,  or  the  dictation  of  ecclesiastical 
synods.  Alas !  how  many  venerable  theories  and 
darling  dogmas  in  theology  would  be  demolished,  as 
by  a  magician's  wand,  by  the  simple  touch  of  the  finger 
of  philological  exegesis  !  Here  then,  we  repeat  it, 
in  the  failure  to  resort  to  the  original  fountain-heads 
of  truth,  we  find  a  large  portion  of  the  obscurity  of 
religious  language  adequately  accounted  for ;  and 
as  we  here  find  the  bane,  here  also  we  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  antidote. 

Again,  it  must  be  admitted  that  there  is,  in  the 
mass  of  men,  an  innate  aversion  to  a  rigid  examina- 
tion of  the  grounds  of  the  opinions  they  have  once 
adopted,  or  to  a  critical  analysis  of  the  terms  by 
which  they  are  ordinarily  expressed.  Thev  do  not 
A2 


VI  PREFACE. 

like  to  have  the  quiet  of  their  faith  disturbed  by  an 
insinuation  of  the  weakness  of  the  grounds  upon 
which  it  rests.  The  ancient  and  accredited  techni- 
cahties  of  rehgion,  hallowed  as  they  are  by  long 
usage,  and  wedded  to  the  thoughts,  if  not  to  the 
affections,  by  early  association,  are  clung  to  with 
the  most  unyielding  tenacity.  We  shrink  from  the 
rude  process  of  investigation.  Inquiry  strikes  us  as 
little  short  of  profanation,  and  we  shudder  at  it  as 
at  the  lifting  up  of  axes  against  the  carved  work  of 
the  sanctuary.  Although  we  may  be  in  fact  unable 
to  substantiate  our  belief  fully  to  our  own  minds, 
yet  the  bare  thought  of  a  change,  as  the  result  of 
canvassing  our  opinions  anew,  fills  us  with  alarm, 
and  binding  our  established  persuasions  still  closer 
to  our  hearts,  we  say  with  Job,  *  I  will  die  in  my 
nest,'  admitting  no  treacherous  doubts  within  the 
precincts  of  our  faith  for  fear  of  a  mental  insurrection. 
Thus  the  dreary  bird  of  night 

"  does  to  the  moon  complain 

Of  such  as  wandering  near  her  secret  bowers, 
Molest  her  ancient  solitary  reign." 

But  surely  it  will  be  conceded  that  truth  is  at  all 
times  to  be  preferred  to  error,  though  it  should  be 
supposed  that  the  error  were  one  of  a  comparatively 
slight  and  innoxious  character.  The  rigid  scrutiny 
of  our  opinions,  therefore,  is  but  the  homage  due  to 
truth  ;  and  the  man  who  aids  us  in  disabusing  our- 
selves even  of  an  innocent  error,  may  justly  lay 
claim  to  some  measure  of  the  gratitude  bestowed 
upon  him  who  puts  us  in  possession  of  a  new  truth. 


PREFACE.  VU 

In  fact,  although  in  the  work  of  the  husbandman 
the  eradication  of  tares  is  not  the  same  with  the 
production  of  wheat,  yet  in  mental  and  moral  tillage 
the  deracination  of  error  is  in  many  cases  but  an- 
other name  for  the  implantation  of  truth. 

The  tenor  of  these  remarks  applies,  if  we  mistake 
not,  with  peculiar  pertinency  to  the  subject  of  the 
prevailing  impressions — opinions  they  can  scarcely 
be  called — respecting  the  Millennium;  aterm  denot- 
ing, in  its  popular  sense,  a  future  felicitous  state  of 
the  church  and  the  world  of  a  thousand  years'  du- 
ration, of  which,  while  every  one  has  some  vague 
anticipation,  almost  no  one  has  any  clear  and  well- 
defined  conception.  No  phraseology  in  prayer,  in 
preaching,  in  the  religious  essay,  or  in  the  monthty- 
concert  address  is  niore  common  than  that  of  millen- 
nial state,  millennial  reign,  millennial  purity,  millen- 
nial glory,  <fcc';  all  betokening  the  expectation  of  a 
coming  condition  in  the  affairs  of  the  church  infin- 
itely transcending,  in  peace,  piety,  and  bliss,  the  most 
favoured  epochs  which  have  yet  marked  its  annals. 
Now  it  may  well  be  made  a  question,  Upon  what 
is  this  expectation  founded  ?  Has  it  unequivocally 
the  warrant  of  any  express  declaration  of  holy  writ  ? 
Or  is  it  any  thing  more  than  a  mere  traditionary 
tenet,  which  from  time  immemorial  has  in  some  way 
obtained  currency  among  the  pious,  and  which, 
having  received  from  our  forefathers  in  childhood, 
has  become  with  us  a  matter  of  mechanical  repeti- 
tion in  after-life,  when 

"  The  priest  hath  finished  what  the  nurse  begun." 


VIU  PREFACE. 

How  few  are  there  of  the  vast  multitude  of  those  who 
habitually  have  this  kind  of  expression  upon  their 
lips,  who  are  able  '  to  give  a  reason  of  the  (millen- 
nial) hope  that  is  in  them  V — how  few  who  really  and 
truly,  on  this  point,  *  know  what  they  say  or  whereof 
they  affirm  V  Let  it  be  observed,  however,  that  our 
interrogatory  concerns  not  so  much  the  belief,  that 
a  brighter  and  benigner  period  is  yet  to  dawn  upon 
our  world — that  an  era  of  pre-eminent  peace,  purity, 
and  prosperity,  constituting  what  is  frequently  called 
*the  latter  day  glory,'  is  yet  destined  to  bless 
the  globe,  succeeding  and  compensating  '  the  years 
wherein  we  have  seen  trouble  ;'  for  this  is  abundantly 
testified  by  the  predictions  of  the  former  and  the 
latter  prophets,  and  shadowed  forth  under  many  a 
significant  parable,  type,  and  allegory ;  the  point 
of  our  inquiry  is  this: — On  what  sufficient  grounds 
has  this  period  come  to  be  limited,  in  the  minds  of 
Christians,  to  the  precise  term  of  a  thousand  years, 
after  which  it  is  supposed  that  a  grand  defection  is 
to  ensue,  and  the  followers  of  Christ  to  be  again 
reduced  to  a  diminutive  handful  1  Judging  from 
other  portions  of  the  prophetic  oracles,  our  conclu- 
sion would  certainly  be  altogether  the  reverse. 
Dan.  7.  18,  27.  "  The  saints  of  the  Most  High 
shall  take  the  kingdom  and  possess  the  kingdom  fm^ 
ever,  even  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the  kingdom  and 
dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under 
the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an 
everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve 
and  obey  him."    Again,  Dan.  2.  44     "  And  in  the 


PREFACE.  IX 

days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up 
a  kingdom,  which  shall  never  be  destroyed :  and  the 
kingdom  shall  not  he  left  to  other  people,  but  it  shall 
break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  those"  kingdoms, 
and  it  shall  stand  for  ever"  These  annunciations 
would  certainly  seem  to  preclude  the  prospect  of 
any  mere  secular  empire  ever  acquiring  that  ascen- 
dancy which  it  is  yet  supposed  will  be  acquired  by 
the  post-millennial  Gog  and  Magog  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse. To  this  we  are  aware  it  will  be  replied,  that 
the  20th  chapter  of  the  Revelation,  in  announcing 
that  *  the  Dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil 
and  Satan,  shall  be  bound  and  shut  up  in  the  bottom- 
less pit  a  thousand  years,  and  that  the  souls  of  them 
that  were  beheaded  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  and 
the  word  of  God,  should  live  and  reign  with  Christ 
a  thousand  years,  while  the  rest  of  the  dead  should 
not  live  again  till  the  thousand  years  were  finished,' 
affords  a  sufficient  warrant  for  the  general  expecta- 
tion of  the  Christian  world  on  this  subject.  This, 
however,  it  will  be  observed,  is  alleged  on  the  pre- 
sumption, that  the  millennial  period  spoken  of  by 
John  is  yet  future,  the  very  point  which  we  shall  en- 
deavour to  show  is  gratuitously  assumed.  Upon  this 
presumption  the  labours  of  nearly  all  preceding 
expositors  have  been  unhesitatingly  based,  and  the 
object  which  they  have  mainly  set  themselves  to 
accomplish  has  been,  to  fix  the  period  of  the  com- 
mencement of  this  golden  age  of  Zion.  With  this 
view  they  have  constructed  various  arrangements 
of  the  chronological  eras  of  the  seals,  trumpets,  and 
vials ;  of  the  reign  of  the  beast,  and  the  resurrection 


PREFACE. 


of  the  witnesses  ;  while,  for  the  leading  characters  of 
the  period,  they  have  had  recourse  to  what  they  con- 
ceived to  be  the  parallel  announcements  of  Isaiah 
and  other  ancient  prophets,  not  doubting  that  their 
sublime  visions  of  ultimate  glory  to  the  church 
pointed  to  precisely  the  same  epoch  with  the  Millen- 
nium of  the  Apocalypse.  Now  in  all  this  we  are 
constrained  to  believe,  that  the  tower  has  been  be- 
gun to  be  erected  before  the  foundation  was  pro- 
perly laid.  For  with  one  who  takes  nothing  for 
granted  in  the  matter  of  biblical  exposition  the  first 
inquiry  would  naturally  be ;  What  is  to  be  under- 
stood by  the  Dragon  or  the  Satan  (the  adversary) 
who  is  to  be  bound  1 — what  by  his  binding  ? — and 
w^hat  by  the  Bottomless  Pit  (Abyss)  in  which  he  is 
represented  as  being  shut  up  ?  For  as  the  book  of 
Revelation  is  couched  throughout  in  a  continuous 
series  of  symbols  or  hieroglyphics,  the  inference  a 
priori  is,  that  the  Dragon  is  as  truly  a  symbolic  per- 
sonage as  the  Beast  with  whom  he  acts  in  concert, 
or  the  Woman  clothed  in  scarlet  and  purple,  and 
drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints,  portrayed  as 
seated  upon  the  beast  and  swaying  his  movements. 
If  the  Dragon  be  taken  for  the  devil  literally  and 
personally,  or  the  prince  of  fallen  spirits,  what,  we 
ask,  can  possibly  be  intended  by  his  being  described 
with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  ?  The  truth  is,  this 
portion  of  the  hieroglyphical  scenery  of  the  Reve- 
lation, on  the  common  interpretation, never  has  been^ 
and  never  can  be,  satisfactorily  explained.  The 
great  point,  therefore,  which  the  reader  will  find 
laboured  in  the  ensuing  pages  is  to  settle  clearly  and 


PREFACE.  XI 

demonstratively  the  symbolical  import  of  the  Dra- 
gon, for  upon  this  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  Millen- 
nium mainly  hinges.  In  connexion  with  this,  the 
writer  has  endeavoured,  at  some  length,  to  show  the 
recondite  meaning  couched  under  the  emblem  of 
the  Abyss  into  which  the  Dragon  was  cast,  and  to 
fix  with  as  much  certainty  as  the  subject  will  admit 
the  precise  political  powers  shadowed  forth  by  the 
mystic  denomination  of  Gog  and  Magog. 

The  plan  of  the  work  unavoidably  forced  upon 
the  author  the  necessity  of  somewhat  of  an  impos- 
ing array  of  learned  citations ;  for  this  he  bespeaks 
the  indulgence  of  his  reader.  If  the  inquiry  could 
have  been  conducted  without  them,  his  pages  would 
not  have  been  encumbered  with  a  mass  of  matter 
of  so  repellent  a  character.  As  the  quotations, 
however,  are  all  translated,  he  hopes  the  mere  Eng- 
lish reader  will'  not  be  deterred,  by  the  formidable 
aspect  of  his  pages,  from  prosecuting  a  perusal  to 
which  the  title-leaf  and  the  table  of  contents  may 
perhaps  invite  him. 

Finally,  the  writer  solicits  a  charitable  view  of  the 
causes  which  have  led  him  to  the  adoption  of  a 
theory  of  the  Millennium  so  diverse  from  that  gener- 
ally entertained.  In  his  own  mind  he  is  conscious 
of  having  embraced  it  from  no  motive  of  broaching 
a  novel  hypothesis,  for  in  truth  it  is  not  novel,  or 
from  the  prurient  promptings  of  a  general  dispo- 
sition to  thrust  upon  the  public  a  set  of  crude  inter- 
pretations of  the  sacred  writings.  He  has  been 
forced  purely  by  stress  of  evidence  to  adopt  the 
conclusion  announced,  and,  in  some  sort,  supported, 
in  the  ensuing  work  ;  and  as  his  object  has  been  to 


XU  PREFACE. 

exhibit  in  a  connected  view  the  chain  of  proofs 
which  have  determined  his  own  convictions,  he  feels 
free  to  demand,  as  matter  of  common  justice,  that 
the  reader  should  sit  in  judgment,  not,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, upon  the  conclusion  itself,  which  must  neces- 
sarily encounter  a  host  of  prejudice,  but  upon  the 
sufficiency  or  insufficiency  of  the  reasons  alleged  in 
its  support.  Let  the  premises  be  refuted  before  the 
conclusion  is  denied.  This  conclusion,  whether 
sound  or  not,  involves,  indeed,  the  startling  position 
that  the  Millennium,  strictly  so  called,  is  past  ;  but 
that  the  writer  has  not  been  led  to  embrace  or  utter 
this  opinion  merely  from  a  perverse  love  of  para- 
dox, and  that  he  has  no  disposition  ruthlessly  to 
pluck  from  the  bosom  of  the  Christian  or  the  phi- 
lanthropist so  fond  and  sacred  a  hope  as  that  of  a 
coming  age  of  light  and  glory  to  the  church,  without 
offering  any  thing  to  compensate  the  spoliation,  will 
be  evident  to  every  one  who  shall  be  sufficiently 
interested  to  follow  his  speculations  to  their  close. 
Instead  of  robbing  the  treasury  of  Christian  hope  of  a 
gem  so  precious,  and  of  abstracting  from  benevo- 
lent effort  so  mighty  a  motive,  it  will  be  seen  that 
his  view  of  the  futurities  of  Zion,  admitting  the 
Millennium  to  be  past,  opens  to  the  eye  of  faith  a 
still  more  cheering  prospect,  a  lengthened  vista  of 
richer  and  brighter  beatitudes. 

'*  No  hope  that  way,  is 
Another  way  so  high  an  hope,  that  e'en 
Ambition  cannot  pierce  a  wink  beyond, 
But  doubts  discovery  there." 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

ANCIENT  OPINIONS,  JEWISH  AND   CHRISTIAN,  ON  THE  SUB- 
JECT  OF  A  MILLENNIUM. 

Definition  of  the  word  Millennium — The  doctrine  of  the  Mil- 
lennium founded  but  upon  a  single  express  Passage  of  Scrip- 
ture— Diversity  of  opinions  as  to  the  Time  of  its  Com- 
mencement— Jewish  Origin  of  the  Millennarian  Hypothesis 
— Built  upon  an  allegorical  Exposition  of  the  history  of  the 
Creation  in  six  days  followed  by  the  Rest  of  the  seventh — 
Confirmed  by  Extracts — Estimate  of  the  value  of  the  Rab- 
binical Traditi<?n — Early  adopted  by  several  of  the  Christian 
Fathers — Rejected  by  others — Controversy  on  the  subject  in 
the  Primitive  Church — Extracts  from  the  writings  of  the 
Fathers — Probable  Reasons  of  the  early  Prevalence  of  Mil- 
lennarian sentiments — Testimony  of  Gibbon    .     .     Page  17 


CHAPTER  II. 

MODERN  OPINIONS  RESPECTING  THE  APOCALYPTIC 
MILLENNIUM. 

Historical  Sketch  of  the  Decline  of  the  Millennarian  theoiy, 
and  of  its  Revival  at  the  Reformation — The  modern  Advo- 
cates of  a  future  Millennium  divided  into  two  Classes — The 
first  hold  to  the  personal  Reign.of  Christ  on  earth  during  the 
thousand  years— Mede,  Caryll,  Gill,  Noel,  Irving,  Ander- 


Xiv  CONTENTS. 


son,  quoted — Claim  to  found  their  Expectation  upon  a  pass- 
age in  the  second  Epistle  of  Peter— Remarks  upon  this  Inter- 
pretation—The  second  Class  deny  the  Personal,  but  maintain 
the  Spiritual  Reign  of  Christ—Confirmed  by  Extracts  from 
Whitby,  Bogue,  Johnston      ^ 55 

CHAPTER  III. 

EXPLICATION  OF  THE  SYMBOL  OF  THE  DRAGON. 

The  Binding  of  Satan  or  the  Dragon  the  main  feature  of  the 
anticipated  Millennium — Necessai-y  to  determine  the  Import 
of  this  Symbolical  Action — This  cannot  be  done  without 
first  fixing  the  import  of  the  Dragon  himself  as  a  Symbol — 
With  this  view  the  Vision  of  the  Dragon,  Rev.  xii.,  minutely 
considered — The  sun-clad  and  star-crowned  Woman  ex- 
plained—The Dragon  shown  to  be  a  symbol  of  Paganism — 
The  War  between  Michael  and  the  Dragon  explained— The 
remaining  Circumstances  of  the  Vision  explained — Objections 
answered — Reflections 77 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  TRUE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  MILLENNIUM  STATED  AND 
CONFIRMED. 

The  Connection  of  the  twentieth  Chapter  of  the  Revelation 
with  the  preceding  portions  of  the  Book  stated — The  Identity 
of  the  Dragon  throughout  the  Apocalypse  maintained — The 
Binding  of  the  Dragon  explained — Its  date  determined — 
Confirmed  by  History— Particulars  of  the  symbolic  Imagery 
further  elucidated— Symbol  of  thfe  Bottomless  Pit  or  Abyss 
explained— Opinions  of  Lightfoot,  Turretin,  Mastricht,  and 
Marck  quoted— Satan's  deceiving  the  Nations  explained — 
Whether  the  Millennium  to  consist  of  a  thousand  literal 
years — Explication  of  the  Thrones,  and  of  the  Souls  of  the 
Martyrs  seen  in  the  Vision,  and  of  their  Living  and  Reigning 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years       ........     138 


CONTENTS.  XV 


CHAPTER  V. 

EXPLICATION  OF  THE  GOG  AND  MAGOG  OF  THE 
APOCALYPSE. 

Various  Opinions  of  Commentators  respecting  Gog  and  Ma- 
gog— Reason  of  this  Diversity — The  mention  of  this  mystic 
Power  by  John  extremely  brief  and  obscure,  because  more 
fully  predicted  by  Ezekiel — The  Identity  of  the  Gog  and 
Magog  described  by  the  two  Prophets  maintained — An  ex- 
tended Exposition  of  Ezek.  Ch.  xxxviii. — Gog  and  Magog 
shown  to  be  a  prophetical  denomination  of  the  Turks — Con- 
sequently the  same  Power  with  the  Euphratean  horsemen  of 
the  sixth  Trumpet,  and  to  be  referred  to  the  same  Period — 
As  certain,  therefore,  that  the  Millennium  is  past,  as  that  the 
events  of  the  sixth  Trumpet  have  transpired — Destruction 
of  Gog  and  Magog  by  Fire  from  Heaven  explained — Objec- 
tions answered 205 


/    CHAPTER  VI. 

CONCLUSION. 

Correct  Views  of  the  Millennium  attainable  only  from  a  right 
Interpretation  of  the  Prophetic  Symbols — Whatever  Diffi- 
culties attend  the  Theory  broached  in  the  present  Treatise, 
the  common  Doctrine  embarrassed  by  equal  or  greater — 
Some  of  them  stated — Hints  respecting  the  predicted  Con- 
flagration of  the  Heavens  and  the  Earth — True  Character  of 
the  Prophetic  Intimations  of  the  future  Prospects  of  the 
Church  and  the  World 257 


3  0LiOGl 
TKEATISE 


MILLENNIUM. 


CHAPTER  I. 


ANCIENT  OPINIONS,  JEWISH  AND  CHRISTIAN,  ON  THE  SUB- 
JECT  OF  A  MILLENNIUM. 

Definition  of  the  word  Millennium — The  doctrine  of  the  Mil- 
lennium founded  but  upon  a  single  express  Passage  of  Scrip- 
ture— Diversity  of  opinions  as  to  the  Time  of  its  Com- 
mencement— Jewish  Origin  of  the  Millennarian  Hypothesis 
— Built  upon  an  allegorical  Exposition  of  the  history  of  the 
Creation  in  six  days  followed  by  the  Rest  of  the  seventh — 
Confirmed  by  Extracts — Estimate  of  the  value  of  the  Rab- 
binical Tradition — Early  adopted  by  several  of  the  Christian 
Fathers — Rejected  by  others — Controversy  on  the  subject  in 
the  Primitive  Church — Extracts  from  the  writings  of  the 
Fathers — Probable  Reasons  of  the  early  Prevalence  of  Mil- 
lennarian sentiments — Testimony  of  Gibbon. 

The  etymological  import  of  the  word  Millennium 
denotes,  as  is  well  known,  the  space  of  a  thousand 
years.  The  term,  considered  by  itself,  does  not  point 
to  any  particular  period  of  that  extent,  but  may  be  ap- 
plied indifferently  to  any  one  of  the  five  millenniums 
which  have  elapsed  since  the  creation,  to  the  sixth  now 
C 


22  TREATISE    ON 

verging  towards  its  close,  or  to  the  seventh,  which  is 
yet  to  come.  But  long-established  usage  has  given  the 
word  a  restricted  application,  and  where  it  occurs 
without  specification  it  is  universally  understood  to 
refer  to  the  period  mentioned  by  the  prophet  of  Patmos, 
Rev.  20.  1-7.  "And  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from 
heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit  and  a 
great  chain  in  his  hand.  And  he  laid  hold  on  the 
dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan, 
and  bound  him  a  thousand  years,  and  cast  him  into  the 
bottomless  pit,  and  shut  him  up,  and  set  a  seal  upon 
him,  that  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more  till  the 
thousand  years  should  be  fulfilled:  and  after  that  he 
must  be  loosed  a  little  season.  And  I  saw  thrones, 
and  they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was  given  unto 
them  ;  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded 
for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,  and 
which  had  not  worshipped  the  beast,  neither  his  image, 
neither  had  received  his  mark  upon  their  foreheads,  or 
in  their  hands  ;  and  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ 
a  thousand  years.  But  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not 
again  until  the  thousand  years  were  finished.  This  is 
the  first  resurrection.  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath 
part  in  the  first  resurrection :  on  such  the  second  death 
hath  no  power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of 
Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand  years. 
And  when  the  thousand  years  are  expired,  Satan  shall 
be  loosed  out  of  his  prison." 

This,  it  is  to  be  observed,  is  the  only  express  passage 
in  the  whole  compass  of  the  Scriptures,  in  which  men- 
tion is  made  of  the  period  of  a  thousand  years  in  con- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  23 

nexion  with  the  prospective  lot  of  the  church :  conse- 
quently that  which  is  emphatically  styled  the  doctrine  of 
the  Millennium  rests  wholly  and  entirely  upon  the  inter- 
pretation given  of  this  portion  of  the  Apocalypse. 
This  period,  the  reader  is  aware,  is  considered  by  the 
mass  of  modern  commentators  and  divines  to  be  yet 
future.  The  degree  of  its  proximity  to  our  own  times 
is  variously  estimated  according  to  the  peculiar  hy- 
potheses of  different  expositors  in  regard  to  the  plan 
and  structure  of  the  book,  and  their  several  arrange- 
ments of  its  chronological  eras.*  Mr.  Faber,  with  a 
large  class  of  readers,  fixes  its  commencement  to  the 
year  1866  ;  the  school  of  Messrs.  Irving,  Drummond, 
Begg,  and  others,  are  in  daily  expectation  of  the  glo- 
rious personal  epiphany  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  com- 
ing in  the  clouds  of  heaven  to  put  an  end,  by  desolating 
judgments,  to  the  present  degenerate  order  of  things 
within  the  bounds  of  Christendom,  and  to  usher  in  the 
full  splendour  of  the  Millennial  reign.  Others  again, 
forming  a  very  respectable  class  of  expositors,  defer 
the  commencing  epoch  of  the  Millennium  to  the  year 
2000,  or  thereabouts,  that  the  period  may  coincide  with 

*  "  An  Epoch  is  any  fixed  period  of  time  from  which  a  series 
of  years  may  be  regularly  and  successively  computed.  An  Era 
is  the  series  or  succession  of  years  actually  so  computed.  Thus, 
for  example,  the  period  of  the  Birth  of  Christ  constitutes  the 
Christian  Epocha ;  and  the  present  year  is  the  1812th  year  of 
ike  Christian  Era^  or  of  the  series  of  years  computed  from  the 
Christian  Epocha.  It  is  the  more  necessary  to  observe  this  dis- 
tinction, because  we  frequently  find  the  terms  Era  and  Epoch 
confounded  even  by  some  of  our  most  eminent  writers." — 
P gnu's  Christian  Survey ;  Introd.  Lond.  1812. 


24  TREATISE    ON 

the  seventh  thousand  years  from  the  creation,  consti- 
tuting what  may  be  termed  the  Great  Sabbatism  of  the 
world.  The  following-  extracts  from  the  writings  of 
two  distinguished  advocates  of  this  latter  opinion  may 
be  considered  as  representing  the  sentiments  of  their 
class. 

"  Without  taking  upon  me  to  name  the  precise  year 
of  the  commencement  of  Antichrist's  reign,  shall  I  sup- 
pose it  will  have  ceased  and  the  Millennium  commence 
about  the  two  thousandth  year  of  the  Christian  era  ? 
Should  I  say  there  appears  a  greater  probability  that 
the  longed-for  event  will  take  place  at  that  time  than  at 
the  second  period  (1866)  which  has  been  mentioned, 
and  the  seventh  thousand  years  of  the  world's  exist- 
ence prove  a  glorious  sabbatic  day  of  rest  and  peace  and 
joy  1 — perhaps  it  would  disappoint  the  ardent  hope  of  its 
earlier  approach  which  some  fondly  entertain ;  and  I 
thmk  I  can  perceive  the  disappointment  expressed  in  your 
sorrowful  looks.  But  if  you  view  the  subject  with  at- 
tention, there  will  be  no  cause  either  for  disappointment 
or  for  grief,  but  infinitely  much  for  gladness  and  rejoicing. 
You  have  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  reason  for  ceasing 
from  your  benevolent  exertions  in  despondency,  but  the 
best  and  most  forcible  of  reasons  for  proceeding  in  your 
endeavours  to  hasten  on  the  glory  of  the  latter  days. — 
Let  it  be  granted  that  nearly  two  hundred  years  must 
yet  revolve  before  the  Millennium  begin,  immense  is 
the  mass  of  labor  which  must,  during  that  whole  space, 
without  intermission,  be  employed  to  bring  it  into  exist- 
ence.    Eighteen  centuries  have  already  elapsed  since 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  25 

the  coming  of  the  Savior  into  the  world,  but  in  the  two 
that  are  yet  to  come,  more  remains  to  be  done  than  in 
all  the  eighteen  which  are  past.  The  religion  of  Jesus 
in  its  purity  is  not  yet  even  professed  by  a  twentieth 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  Judge  then  what 
a  Herculean  labor  it  must  be,  in  the  space  of  two  hun- 
dred years,  to  convert  the  other  nineteen  parts  to  the 
faith  of  Christ.  Were  we  to  be  told,  that  for  a  long 
course  of  time,  four  millions  of  souls  were  annually 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  what  a  wonderful 
as  well  as  what  a  delightful  event  we  should  conceive 
it  to  be  !  But  on  an  average  for  near  two  centuries  to 
come,  more  than  this  number  must  be  converted  every 
year,  before  the  whole  world  can  be  brought  into  sub- 
jection to  the  Redeemer." — Bogue's  Disc,  on  the  Mill. 
p.  608,  8vo.  ed. 

"  The  Millennium  must  commence  immediately  upon 
the  final  overthrow  of  Papal  Rome.  But  it  was  for- 
merly shewn  in  its  proper  place  that  Papal  Rome  shall 
be  completely  overthrown  in  the  end  of  the  year  of 
Christ  1999.  The  Millennium  therefore,  which  both  in 
the  order  of  this  prophecy  and  in  the  nature  of  the  thing 
follows  close  upon  the  overthrow  of  Papal  Rome,  must 
commence  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  of  Christ  2000. 
On  account  of  the  prevalence  of  true  religion  and  the 
total  rest  from  wars  in  it,  the  Millennium  is,  as  it  were, 
the  great  sabbath  of  the  whole  earth." — Johnston  on  the 
Rev,  vol.  ii.  p.  319. 

These  extracts  are  of  great  importance,  not  only  as 
acquainting  us  with  the  views  of  their  authors  relative 
C2 


26  TREATISE    Off 

to  the  commencement  of  this  illustrious  era,  but  as  dis- 
closing also  the  probable  origin  of  the  prevailing  Mil- 
lennarian  hypothesis.  It  is  founded  upofi  a  Jewish  tra- 
dition, according  to  which  the  six  days  employed  in  the 
creation  of  the  world  were  each  of  them  typical  of  a 
thousand  years,  and  the  rest  of  the  seventh  a  prefigura- 
tion  of  the  great  sabbatical  Millennary  of  the  world. 
Daubuz,  by  far  the  ablest  of  all  commentators  on  the 
visions  of  John,  thus  speaks  of  the  origin  of  the  Apoca- 
lyptic Millennium  : — "  It  may  be  observed,  that  as  the 
Jewish  church  had  no  absolute  rest  or  sabbatism  as 
the  Millennium  is,  so  the  Holy  Ghost  could  not  derive 
the  symbol  from  that  economy,  but  was  as  it  were 
obliged  to  draw  it  from  an  higher  fountain,  or  original 
of  ideal  types  and  events.  But,  however,  even  this 
original  idea  was  known  to  the  Jews.  They  had  a  tra- 
dition of  it,  and  the  notion  was  current  even  before  St. 
John  wrote.  He  has  not  then  treated  of  the  Millen- 
nium as  a  new  thing,  but  has  described  it  in  some  mea- 
sure by  the  old  notions  with  improvements  :  and  besides 
that,  showed  us  how  it  is  accomplished  by  Christ,  by 
giving  us  a  full  account  of  the  antecedents  and  conse- 
quents. Now  that  tradition  was  grounded  upon  the  al- 
legorical exposition  of  the  creation  of  the  world  in  six 
days,  and  the  rest  of  God  in  the  seventh ;  and  that  a 
thousand  years  are  with  God  as  one  day.  "Whence  it 
is  argued,  that  as  God  created  the  world  in  six  days, 
and  rested  on  the  seventh,  so  he  will  redeem  mankind 
and  work  out  their  redemption  in  six  thousand  years, 
and  procure  his  and  their  sabbatism  in  the  seventh  thou- 
sand :  this  rest  being  to  be  proportionable  to  the  dura- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  27 

lion  of  the  work.  By  consequence,  that  term  of  one 
thousand  years  is  to  be  taken  in  a  literal  sense,  and 
must  consist  just  of  a  thousand  years  in  the  common 
acceptation  of  the  word ;  and  needs  no  further  evolu- 
tion, as  some  of  late  have  pretended,  because  it  is  fixed 
by  that  traditional  allegory.  Now  that  the  Jews  had  it 
must  be  plain  from  this,  that  we  find  it  in  St.  Barnabas, 
who  wrote  before  St.  John  many  years.  And  indeed 
we  give  very  good  reasons  in  our  Commentary  to  think 
that  the  notion  is  as  old  as  the  Deluge,  because  we  find 
it  pretty  plainly  to  be  also  the  tradition  of  the  Chal- 
dean Magi,  and  perhaps  too  of  the  Egyptians." — Bau- 
buz,  Perpet.  Comment,  on  the  Rev.  p.  64.  1720. 

Before  proceeding  to  adduce  evidence  of  the  exist- 
ence of  this  tradition  among  the  Jews,  the  reader  will 
permit  us  to  introduce  another  citation  showing  still 
more  distinctly  4;he  use  which  is  made  by  Christian 
writers  of  the  above-mentioned  allegory. 

"  Through  the  whole  Scriptures,  both  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  there  is  a  striking  typical  representa- 
tion of  some  great  and  important  Sabbath,  as  a  great 
septenary  that  has  not  yet  taken  place,  and  which  evi- 
dently appears  to  be  the  Millennarian  septenary,  as  the 
great  Sabbath  of  the  whole  earth.  Thus,  Gen.  2.  3. 
'  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it.'  Ex. 
20.  8-11.  The  appointment  of  the  seventh  day  as  the 
weekly  sabbath  was  renewed  in  a  most  solemn  manner. 
Levit.  25.  1-7.  Every  seventh  year  was  appointed  a 
sabbatical  year ;  and  Levit.  25.  8,  9.  the  commence- 
ment of  the  year  of  jubilee,  which  was  every  fiftieth 


28  TREATISE    ON 

year,  was  to  be  fixed  by  the  running  of  a  septenary 
of  sabbatical  years  ;  *  And  thou  shalt  number  seven  sab- 
baths of  years  unto  thee,  seven  years,  and  the  space  of 
the  seven  sabbaths  of  years  shall  be  unto  thee  forty 
and  nine  years.'  The  number  seven,  because  used  in 
Scripture  to  complete  all  the  sacred  divisions  of  time, 
was  regarded  by  the  Jews  as  the  symbol  of  perfection, 
and  is  used  in  this  sense  in  Scripture. — Is  it  ever  to  be 
supposed  that  all  these  events,  which  are  interwoven 
with  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  which  was  symbolical  or 
typical  itself,  and  which  are  introduced  into  the  New 
Testament,  and  abound  so  much  in  this  book  of  Revela- 
tion, have  no  antitype  to  correspond  to  them,  no  great 
sabbatical  septenary  to  which  they  all  point,  and  in 
which  they  shall  all  be  accomplished  ?  Is  it  not  highly 
probable  that  they  are  all  typical  of  the  seventh  millen- 
nary  of  the  earth,  which  is  the  great  Sabbath  ?" — John- 
ston on  the  Rev»  vol.  ii.  p.  320. 

As  our  object  in  the  present  chapter  is  to  trace  the 
Millennarian  theory,  as  held  in  modern  times,  to  its 
primitive  source,  and  thence,  travelling  downwards,  to 
detail  the  consecutive  history  of  opinion  upon  the  sub- 
ject even  to  the  days  in  which  we  live,  we  shall  begin 
with  the  allegation  of  testimonies  to  the  fact  of  the 
existence  among  the  Jews  of  the  tradition  above  men- 
tioned ;  after  which  we  shall  endeavour  to  show  that 
this  tradition  was  adopted  by  the  early  Christians,  and 
that  upon  it  all  the  modern  notions  of  the  Millennium 
have  been  grafted. 

"  It  is  certain  that  the  Jews  interpreted  days  as  sig- 
nifying millenniums,  and  reckoned  millenniums  by  days. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  29 

Thus  they  say ;  '  In  the  time  to  come,  which  is  in  the  last 
days, — on  the  sixth  day,  which  is  the  sixth  millennium, 
when  the  Messiah  comes^ — for  the  day  of  the  holy 
blessed  God  is  a  thousand  years.'  Again,  'The  sixth 
degree  is  called  the  sixth  day ;  the  day  of  the  holy 
blessed  God  is  a  thousand  years.'  So  they  call  the 
Sabbath  or  seventh  day  the  seventh  millennium,  and  in- 
terpret "  the  song  for  the  Sabbath-day,"  Ps.  92.  a  title 
for  the  seventh  millennium,  for  one  day  of  the  blessed 
God  is  a  thousand  years.'  To  which  agrees  the  tradi- 
tion of  Elias,  which  runs  thus  :  '  'Tis  the  tradition  of 
the  house  of  Elias  that  the  world  shall  be  (endure)  six 
thousand  years,  two  thousand  void  (of  the  law) ;  two 
thousand  years  the  law ;  and  two  thousand  years  the 
days  of  the  Messiah ;'  for  they  suppose  that  the  six  days 
of  creation  were  expressive  of  the  six  thousand  years 
which  the  world  will  stand,  and  that  the  seventh  day 
prefigures  the  last  millennium,  in  which  will  be  the  day 
of  judgment  and  the  world  to  come  ;  '  for  the  six  days, 
say  they,  is  a  sign  or  intimation  of  these  things  :  on  the 
sixth  day  man  was  created,  and  on  the  seventh  the  work 
was  finished  ;  so  the  kings  of  the  nations  of  the  world 
(continue)  five  millenniums,  answering  to  the  five  days 
in  which  were  created  the  fowls,  and  the  creeping  things 
of  the  water,  and  other  things  ;  and  the  enjoyment  of 
their  kingdom  is  a  little  in  the  sixth,  answerable  to  the 
creation  of  the  beasts  and  living  creatures  created  at 
this  time  in  the  beginning  of  it ;  and  the  kingdom  of  the 
house  of  David  is  in  the  sixth  millennium,  answerable 
to  the  creation  of  man,  M^ho  knew  his  Creator  and  ruled 
over  them  all ;  and  in  the  end  of  that  millennium  will 


30  TREATISE    ON 

be  the  day  of  judgment,  answerable  to  man,  who  was 
judged  in  the  end ;  and  the  seventh  is  the  Sabbath,  and 
it  is  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  come." — Gill  on  2 
Pet.  3.  8. 

"  This  solemnity  (the  year  of  release)  as  some  con- 
jecture was  a  shadow  of  that  everlasting  Sabbath  ex- 
pected in  the  heavens.  And  this  is  supposed  to  be  the 
foundation  of  the  opinion  of  a  learned  Rabbi,  who  asserts 
that  the  world  should  continue  for  six  thousand  years  ; 
but  the  seventh  thousand  should  be  the  great  sabbatical 
year:  the  six  thousand  answering  to  the  six  working 
days  of  the  week,  and  the  seventh  to  the  Sabbath. 
His  words  are,  Six  thousand  years  the  world  shall  be, 
and  again  it  shall  be  destroyed ;  two  thousand  shall  be 
void,  two  thousand  under  the  law,  and  two  thousand 
under  the  Messiah.  The  substance  of  this  opinion  is 
certainly  to  be  rejected  as  too  curious;  yet  since  it  was 
delivered  by  a  Jew,  it  may  serve  to  prove  against  them 
that  the  Messiah  is  already  come,  and  that  the  law  of 
Moses  ceased  at  his  coming." — Lewis's  Heb.  Antiq, 
vol.  ii.  p.  611. 

"  As  for  the  general  reason  on  which  the  law  con- 
cerning the  sabbatical  year  was  grounded,  it  was  no 
doubt  partly  political  and  civil,  to  prevent  the  land  from 
being  worn  out  by  continual  tilling ;  partly  religious,  to 
afford  the  poor  and  labouring  people  more  leisure  one 
year  in  seven  to  attend  to  devotional  exercises  ;  and 
partly  mystical,  typifying  that  spiritual  rest  which  Christ 
will  give  to  all  who  come  unto  him.  Some,  both  Jews 
and  Christians,  make  the  sabbatical  year  to  be  typical 
of  the  Millennium.     For  as   the  law  consecrates  the 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  31 

seventh  day  and  the  seventh  year,  they  conclude  the 
world  will  last  six  thousand  years  in  the  state  in  which 
we  now  see  it ;  or,  as  Rab.  Elias  in  the  Talmud  ex- 
presses it,  two  thousand  years  without  the"  law,  two 
thousand  under  the  law,  and  two  thousand  under  the 
Messiah  ;  after  which  comes  the  grand  Sabbath  of  one 
thousand  years.  This  notion,  though  it  he  perhaps 
without  any  sufficient  ground,  might  be  improved  into  an 
argument  ad  hominem  to  convince  the  Jews  that  the 
Messiah  must  be  already  come,  since  the  world  has 
gone  far  more  than  half-way  through  the  last  two  thou- 
sand years  of  the  six  thousand  allowed  by  their  tradi- 
tion ;  for  its  continuance  during  which  period  therefore, 
if  at  all,  must  be  the  reign  of  the  Messiah." — Jennings' 
Jewish  Antiq.  vol.  ii.  p.  293. 

"  We  cannot  but  reckon  it  an  instance  of  unwarrant- 
able presumption  in  several  Jewish  writers,  and  some 
of  the  fathers  after  them,  to  suppose  as  they  do,  that 
the  world  shall  continue  six  thousand  years  from  the 
creation,  and  that  as  it  was  made  in  six  days,  and  the 
seventh  ordained  to  be  a  Sabbath,  this  had  a  mystical 
signification,  and  accordingly  in  its  application  to  this 
matter,  a  day  answers  to  a  thousand  years  ;  or,  that  as 
the  world  was  two  thousand  years  without  the  written 
word  or  law  of  God,  and  after  that  two  thousand  years 
under  the  law,  so  the  days  of  the  Messiah  shall  continue 
two  thousand  years,  and  then  follows  the  eternal  Sabba- 
tism  at  Christ's  second  coming.  As  for  the  Jews  who 
speak  of  this  matter,  their  unbelief  is  condemned  out 
of  their  own  mouths,  since  they  do  as  it  were  concede 
that  the  time  in  which  the  Messiah  was  to  come,  was 


32  TREATISE    ON 

that  in  which  he  actually  appeared.  Notwithstanding 
this  is  a  groundless  conjecture  so  far  as  it  respects  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  indeed  it  is  an  entering  into  a  se- 
cret which  is  altogether  hid  from  mankind." — Ridgley's 
Body  of  Div.  Quest.  56.  vol.  ii.  p.  505. 

"  Of  the  Jewish  writers  Rabbi  Ketina,  as  cited  in  the 
Gemara,  or  gloss  of  their  Talmud,  said  that  '  the  world 
endures  six  thousand  years,  and  one  thousand  it  shall  be 
laid  waste  (that  is,  the  enemies  of  God  shall  be  des- 
troyed) whereof  it  is  said,  Is.  2.  11.  The  Lord  alone 
shall  he  exalted  in  that  day.  Tradition  assents  to 
Rabbi  Ketina  :  '  As  out  of  seven  years  every  seventh  is 
the  year  of  remission,  so  out  of  the  seven  thousand 
years  of  the  world  the  seventh  millennary  shall  be  the 
millennary  of  remission,  that  God  alone  may  be  exalted 
in  that  day.^ — (The  tradition  of  the  house  of  Elias 
above  cited  is  then  given,  after  which  it  is  added) — "  It 
was  also  the  tradition  of  the  house  of  Elias,  that  '  the 
just  whom  God  shall  raise  up  (meaning  in  the  first 
resurrection)  shall  not  be  turned  again  into  dust.  Now 
if  you  inquire  how^it  shall  be  with  the  just  in  these  thou- 
sand years  wherein  the  holy  blessed  God  shall  renew 
this  world,  whereof  it  is  said,  And  the  Lord  alone  shall 
he  exalted  in  that  day^  you  must  know  that  the  holy 
blessed  God  will  give  them  the  wings  as  it  were  of 
eagles  that  they  may  fly  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  ; 
whence  it  is  said,  Ps.  46.  2.  Therefore  will  we  not  fear 
when  the  earth  shall  he  changed.  But  perhaps  you  will 
say,  it  shall  be  a  pain  and  aflliction  to  them.  Not  at 
all,  for  it  is  said.  Is.  40.  31.  They  that  wait  upon  the 
Lord  shall  renew  their  strength,  they  shall  mount  up  with 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  35 

wings  as  eagles.''^ — Newton  on  the  Proph.  p.  588,  ed.  in 
one  vol. 

Upon  these  quotations,  which  might  be  indefinitely 
multiplied  from  the  Rabbinical  writers,  it  may  be  ob- 
served ; 

(1.)  That  the  tradition  recited  appears  to  be  rightly 
regarded  as  a  tradition,  and  nothing  more.  We  do  not 
find  that  it  rests  upon  any  express  declaration  of  the  in- 
spired scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  only  portion 
of  the  sacred  volume  to  which  an  appeal  would  be  made 
by  a  Jew.  As  far,  moreover,  as  we  are  able  to  discover 
the  origin  of  the  tradition,  it  is  to  be  traced  up  to  one  Elias ; 
but  who  he  was,  when  he  lived,  and  what  might  have 
been  his  claims  to  the  prophetic  character,  we  are  left 
in  utter  ignorance.  We  know,  indeed,  that  some  later 
advocates  of  the  opinion  have  maintained,  that  he  was 
no  other  than  the  Elias  or  Elijah  of  the  Scriptures,  who 
lived  in  the  reign  of  Ahab,  but  they  have  never,  we  be- 
lieve, advanced  a  particle  of  proof  in  support  of  the 
affirmation.  It  unquestionably  comes  to  us,  therefore, 
as  a  mere  traditionary  legend,  which  every  one  is  at  lib- 
erty to  adopt  or  reject  as  he  pleases.  It  is  accompa- 
nied by  no  external  credentials  which  should  entitle  it 
to  any  higher  rank  in  our  estimation,  than  the  thousand 
idle  conceits  and  puerile  glosses  of  the  Talmudical  an- 
notators.  The  propensity  of  the  Jewish  writers  to 
mystic  and  allegorizing  interpretation  is  well  known,  and 
in  the  present  instance  their  exposition  of  the  Mosaic 
history  of  the  creation  savors  strongly  of  the  dreams 
of  the  Cabala.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  but  fair  to  admit 
that,  as  there  is  nothing  in  the  Scriptures  which  directly 
D 


34  TREATISE    OX 

contradicts  it,  the  tradition  may  be  well  founded.  It  has, 
perhaps,  more  of  an  air  of  internal  probability  than 
most  of  the  Rabbinic  fancies  which  have  laid  a  tax 
upon  human  credulity.  The  use  of  the  number  seven 
in  the  sacred  volume  is  certainly  remarkable,  and  cannot 
but  be  admitted  in  many  cases  to  possess  a  mystical 
import.  It  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  it  may  be  so 
in  the  present  instance.  At  any  rate,  we  are  disposed 
to  treat  with  respect  an  opinion  which  has  been  for  ages 
in  vogue  among  the  pious,  though  it  may  lack  that  de- 
gree of  evidence,  on  the  score  of  origin  and  authority, 
which  should  entitle  it  to  a  place  among  the  articles  of 
our  faith.  We  are  not,  therefore,  prepared  to  class 
among  the  vagaries  and  hallucinations  of  Jewish  con- 
ceit the  interpretation  in  question.  All  that  we  affirm 
is,  that  it  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  authoritative.     But, 

(2.)  Even  on  the  supposition  that  this  allegorical  ex- 
position is  founded  in  truth,  it  does  not  follow  that  the 
sabbatical  millennary  of  the  Judaic  tradition  is  the  same 
with  the  thousand  years  of  the  Apocalypse.  The  iden- 
tifying them  is  certainly  a  gratuitous  assumption.  For 
ought  that  appears  to  the  contrary,  though  it  should  be 
granted  that  a  sevenfold  series  of  chiliads  is  destined  to 
measure  this  world's  duration,  the  Millennium  of  John 
may  coincide  with  some  other  of  the  number  than  the 
seventh.  The  very  point,  therefore,  which  of  all  others 
stood  most  in  need  of  confirmation  is  fortified  with 
the  least.  So  little  countenance  does  the  doctrine  of  a 
Christian  Millennium  yet  future  receive  from  the  uncer- 
tain dogma  of  a  grand  concluding  Sabbath  of  the  world. 

That  there  was,  however,  an  early  transfusion  or  in- 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  35 

corporation  of  this  feature  of  Judaism  into  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  primitive  fathers,  will  be  evident  from  the 
following  testimonies  collected  from  their  writings.  Nor 
should  this  be  matter  of  surprise  when  it  is  considered 
that  many  of  the  first  Christians  were  by  birth  Jews, 
who  had  been  trained  up  in  all  the  distinctive  peculiar- 
ities of  the  Mosaic  economy,  and  were,  like  Paul,  *  ex- 
ceedingly zealous  of  the  traditions  of  their  fathers.'  It 
was  natural  therefore  that  they  should  endeavour  to  har- 
monize the  prophetic  announcements  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament as  far  as  possible  with  the  views  which  they  had 
imbibed  from  Jewish  sources  of  the  later  destinies  of 
the  church  and  the  world.  Their  sentiments,  accord- 
ingly, were  deeply  tinctured  with  the  hue  of  those  pre- 
conceptions which  they  brought  with  them  from  the 
synagogues  and  schools  of  their  early  education.  From 
them  the  opinion  would  naturally  be  propagated  among 
the  gentile  converts.  Of  this  we  shall  hope  to  lay  con- 
clusive evidence  before  the  minds  of  our  readers. 

Of  the  Christian  writers  of  the  first  century,  who  al- 
lude to  this  subject,  Barnabas  in  his  epistle  speaks  thus: 
"  '  And  God  made  in  six  days  the  works  of  his  hands, 
and  he  finished  them  on  the  seventh  day,  and  he  rested 
in  it,  and  sanctified  it.'  Consider,  children,  what  that 
signifies,  he  finished  them  in  six  days.  This  it  signi- 
fies, that  the  Lord  God  will  finish  all  things  in  six  thou- 
sand years.  For  a  day  with  him  is  a  thousand  years  ; 
as  he  himself  testifieth,  saying,  '  Behold  this  day  shall 
be  as  a  thousand  years.'  Therefore,  children,  in  six 
days,  that  is,  in  six  thousand  years,  shall  all  things  be 
consummated.     And  he  rested  the  seventh  day :  this 


OO  TREATISE    ON 

signifies,  that  when  his  Son  shall  come,  and  shall  abol- 
ish the  season  of  the  wicked  one  (Antichrist),  and  shall 
change  the  sun  and  the  moon  and  the  stars,  then  he 
shall  rest  gloriously  in  that  seventh  day."* 

The  genuineness  of  this  epistle  is  indeed  disputed ; 
but  as  far  as  the  present  argument  is  concerned,  it  is 
immaterial  who  the  real  author  was.  There  is  suffi- 
cient testimony  that  it  is  the  production  of  a  very  early 
period  of  the  Christian  church,  and  it  contains  undeni- 
able evidence  of  the  origin  of  those  opinions  which 
were  in  circulation  respecting  an  expected  reign  of  a 
thousand  years,  or  a  seventh  millennium. 

Justin  Martyr,  in  the  second  century,  declares  the 
Millennium  to  be  the  CathoHc  doctrine  of  his  time. 

"  I,  and  as  many  as  are  orthodox  Christians  in  all 
respects,  do  acknowledge  that  there  shall  be  a  resurrec- 
tion of  the  flesh,  and  a  residence  of  a  thousand  years 
in  Jerusalem  rebuilt,  and  adorned,  and  enlarged,  as  the 
prophets  Ezekiel,  and  Isaiah,  and  others  do  unanimously 
attest."! 

But  here  Justin's  proof,  if  proof  it  can  be  called,  is 
exceedingly  deficient  ;  for  the  prophets  referred  to  say 

*  —Kal  hoiricev o,e£os  tv  elfifxipaig  to.  ipya  twj/  %££pc5v  avTov,Kai  ffiu'cr/Afiriv 
^v  Tji  riixsQa  Trj  e(i^6nr),  kuI  Kariiravatv  tv  avTTJ,  Kal  ^yiaaev  avriiv.  Ilpoaixere, 
TtKva,  Ti  \sya,  to  cvvereXeaev  iv  e^  rjnepais  tovto  Xf'y^'i  ori  avvTsXet  6  Qebi  Kvpiog 
iv  €laKi(Txi><i6is  ETtai  to.  -navTa.  'H  yap  ijixipa  Trap'  avro)  x/Aia  errjy  avTog  6s 
Haprvpel,  Xty(i)v,  iSov  arjixepov  ^fxipa  'iarai  wj  xAta  krri.  Ovkovv,  riKva,  iv  €l  ^• 
fiepaig,  h  flaKiax^Xidig  etcui,  awTtXeaBrjatrai,  Tti  navra.  Kal  Kariiravaz  rf/ 
^ix8p(f  Trj  EfiSoiiT]-  TOVTo'^iyei^brav  eAOwv  'o  'viog  avTov,Kai  Karapyftczi  rov  Katpov 
dv6nov,  Kai  KpivEi  rovg  acTe(3as,  Kai  aWditi  rov  ri\iov,  Kai  ttjv  uEKrjvfiv,  Ka\  rovg 
agripag,  TdTCKoXSii  KaTtiraiatTai  tv  rfj  ht^tpa  rr]  'e/J^d/ijj.— S.  Bam.  Epist.  c.  15. 

t  'Eyw  (5f,  Koi  d  Tivis  dciv  dpdoyvwixovtg  Kurd  irdvra  Xpisnavoi,  Kai  crapKog 
avddTaaiv  yevtjaeadai  tmsrd/xeOa,  Kai  xAja  hv  £v  'Uposa^nfi  olKo6onvdd(Tri, 
Kai  KOSfitjOeiar],  Kai  irXarvvdeiar],  Cug)  'oi  npo<f>ii'Jai  ^1£(,£kitiX,  ku  'Hffotaj,  <ca» 
01  aXXoi ' ojioXoyovaiv.—Just.  Mart.  DiuU  cum  Tryph.  p,  313. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  37 

nothing  respecting  the  period  of  a  thousand  years,  so 
that  his  expectation,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  a  limited  term 
of  years,  clearly  betrays  its  Jewish  original. — He  after- 
wards subjoins : — 

"A  certain  man  among  us,  whose  name  was  John, 
one  of  the  apostles  of  Christ,  hi  a  revelation  made  to 
him,  did  prophesy  that  the  faithful  believers  in  Christ 
should  live  a  thousand  years  in  the  New  Jerusalem, 
and  after  these  should  be  the  general  resurrection  and 
judgment."* 

In   the  order  of  time  Irenaeus  is  the  next  authority, 
who  is  particularly  entitled  to  attention. 

"  In  whatever  number  of  days  the  world  was  created, 
in  the  same  number  of  thousands  of  years  it  will  come 
to  an  end.  And  therefore  the  Scripture  says,  that  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  were  completed  and  all  their  em- 
bellishments. And  God  finished  on  the  sixth  day  the 
works  which  he/ made.  And  God  ceased  on  the  sev- 
enth day  from  all  his  works.  This  is  a  narration  of  the 
past,  and  a  prophecy  relative  to  the  future ;  for  the  day 
of  the  Lord  is  as  a  thousand  years."! 

Cyprian  speaks  thus  ; — 

"  Thus  in  the  divine  arrangement  of  the  world  seven 

*  'Avtjp  rtf , '(()  Svofxa  'Iwdvvrjg,  ici  tw;/  airosTo^uv  tov  Xpiajov,  iv  airoKaXv^j,  $t 
Y£v6ixcvi]  dvria  X'^t«  '^'''V  i^oifjctiv  £V  'IcpovaaKfm  roiis  rw  'rjfxcrepijj)  Xptorw  Trtff- 
TtvaavTai  ■!rpos<ptiT£v<T£,  Kai  ixzToi  ravra  rfiv  KadoXiKrjv  Kai,  (TvveXdv'Ji  (pdvai,  alui- 
viav  bjxoQoiia^bv  ana  irdvrwv  avdtTTaaiv  yevijaeadai  kul  xptVti'.— Ibid.  p.  315, 

t  "Ocraiifiixipais  iyivero  'o  K6crfiOi,  roaavroig  x^^^ovtugi  cvvTeXeiTai'  Kai  6ia 
rovTo'  (Ptjcxiv  't]  ypa^i]'  Kai  crvvTcXiadrjaav  'o  ohpavos  Kai  'rj  yrj,  Kai  vrdj  'o  KOSiJLog 
avrSJv-  Kai  avveriXeaev  'o  Qtbg  tj]  vfispqi  tt)  ?  ra  'ipya  avrov  a  CKOirjae,  Kai  kuti- 
navoc  'o  Qeoi  zv  tt)  'rjtxtpq.  tj]  ^'  dno  Trdvrwv  roiv  epydv  avrov.  ToSto  (5'  tcri  tZv 
-poytyovdTwv  Si^nyrjais,  Kai  riov  -eaonivoiv  irpoifieTeia'  'rj  yap  'r]  f^ipo,  Kvpiov  'uti 
XiXia  sTTj.—Irencexis  Adv.  Hoereses,  L.  5.  p.  444,  445. 

D  2 


38  TREATISE    ON 

days  were  at  first  employed,  and  in  them  seven  thousand 
years  were  included."* 

The  next  testimony  is  taken  from  Tertullian. 

*'  After  a  thousand  years,  within  which  period  the 
resurrection  of  the  saints  is  included,  who  will  rise 
sooner  or  later  according  to  their  services,  then  we  being 
changed  to  angelic  natures  shall  be  transferred  into  a 
celestial  kingdom."! 

The  following  is  from  Lactantius. 

*'  Since  in  six  days  the  works  of  God  were  all  com- 
pleted, so  through  six  ages,  that  is,  through  six  thousand 
years,  the  world  must  remain  in  its  present  state.  And 
again,  since  when  his  works  were  all  perfected  he 
rested  on  the  seventh  day  and  blessed  it,  so  at  the  end 
of  six  thousand  years  all  wickedness  must  be  banished 
from  the  earth,  and  righteousness  reign  for  a  thousand 
years.  "J 

But  although  there  was  a  signal  agreement  among 
the  ancient  fathers  as  to  the  period  of  the  world  to 
which  the  Apocalyptic  millennium  was  to  be  assigned, 

*  Prima  dispositione  divina  septem  dies  annorum  septem 
rnillia  continentes. — Cypr.  De  Exhort.  Mart.  c.  11. 

t  Post  mille  annos  intra  quam  aetatem  includitur  sanctorum 
resurrectio  pro  meritis  maturins  vel  tardius  resurgentium ;  tunc 
demutati  in  atomo  in  angelicam  substantiam  transferemur  in 
cosleste  regnum. — Tertull.  Adv.  Marcion^  L.  3.  c.  24. 

:|:  Quoniam  sex  diebus  cuncta  Dei  opera  perfecta  sunt ;  per 
secula  sex,  id  est,  annorum  sex  millia  manero  in  hoc  statu 
mundum  necesso  est.  Et  rursus  quoniam  perfectis  operibus 
requievit  die  septimo  eumque  benedixit ;  necesse  est  ut  in  fine 
sexti  millesimi  anni  malitia  omnis  abolatur  e  terra  ot  regnot 
per  annos  mille  justitia. — Lactantius^  L.  7.  c.  14. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  3^ 

there  was  a  marked  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  real 
character  of  the  period  itself.  There  were  in  fact  in 
that  age,  as  there  are  in  modern  times,  two  distinct 
classes  of  chiliasts,  the  literal  and  the  spiritual,,  or,  as 
they  have  been  termed,  the  gross  and  the  refined.  By 
tlie  one  party,  the  anticipation  was  confidently  cherished 
of  the  personal  reign  of  Christ  on  earth,  of  the  literal 
resurrection  of  the  martyred  saints,  of  the  rebuilding  of 
the  temple  and  city  of  Jerusalem,  of  the  reinhabitation 
of  the  land  of  Israel  by  its  ancient  occupants,  and  of 
the  investiture  of  all  the  risen  righteous  with  a  kingly 
pre-eminence  over  the  remnant  nations  of  the  globe. 
They  held,  moreover,  that  this  halcyon  era  should  be 
distinguished  by  an  unprecedented  fertility  of  the  earth, 
which  should  teem  with  the  utmost  profusion  of  the 
treasures  of  its  bosom,  and  accumulate  without  measure 
the  elements  of  every  sensual  and  corporeal  delight. 
*  The  earth,'  says  Lactantius,  '  shall  disclose  its  exu- 
berance, the  labour  of  tillage  shall  be  unnecessary  to 
secure  the  most  abundant  harvests,  the  rocks  of  the 
mountains  shall  sweat  with  honey,  wine  shall  run  down 
in  streams,  and  the  rivers  flow  with  milk.'*  In  a  word, 
their  anticipated  millennium,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
letter  of  the  strong  language  in  which  it  is  described, 
was  but  another  name  for  an  Epicurean  heaven.  Still 
it  is  but  fair  to  admit,  that  some  allowance  is  perhaps  to 
be  made  on  the  score  of  the  highly  figured  and  luxuri- 

*  Terra  vero  aperiet  fcecunditatem  suam,  et  uberrimas  frugcs 
sua  spirito  gencrabit :  rupes  montium  melle  sudabunt,  per  ri- 
vos  vina  dccurrent,  et  flumina  lacte  inundabunt. — LactantiuSt 
L.  7.  c.  24. 


40  TREATISE    ON 

ating  style  which  they  were  led  to  employ  in  portraying 
the  felicities  of  their  expected  kingdom.  They  possibly 
might  have  disclaimed  the  very  gross  and  carnal  inter- 
pretation which  their  opponents  put  upon  their  language, 
although  after  every  abatement  on  this  score,  an  ample 
residuum  of  wild  extravagance  remains  to  characterize 
their  hypothesis.  Papias,  Justin  Martyr,  Irenseus, 
Tertullian,  and  Lactantius,  are  ranked  among  the  lead- 
ing abetters  of  this  opinion.  Bishop  Bull,  unwilling  to 
give  up  these  venerated  names  to  the  opprobrium  of 
being  numbered  on  the  side  of  so  foul  a  heresy,  kindly 
endeavours  to  throw  the  veil  of  a  lenient  and  charitable 
construction  over  the  most  repulsive  features  of  their 
system.  Speaking  of  an  expression  which  Justin 
Martyr  ascribes  to  Trypho,  viz.  '  That  it  is  given  to 
him  (Jesus  Christ)  to  judge  all  men  without  exception, 
and  that  his  kingdom  is  eternal,'  he  remarks  ;  "  I  think 
that  this  clause,  '  Of  whose  kingdom  there  shall  be  no 
end,'  was  directed  against  the  Cerinthians,  who  taught, 
that  those  magnificent  things  which  are  mentioned  in 
the  Scriptures  concerning  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  are 
to  be  understood  of  an  earthly,  carnal,  and  Epicurean 
reign,  during  a  thousand  years.  There  were,  indeed, 
in  the  first  age  after  the  apostles,  many  even  of  the 
orthodox,  among  whom  was  Justin,  whom  I  have  a  little 
before  been  praising,  who  expected  a  kingdom  of  Christ 
on  earth  for  a  thousand  years.  But  their  opinion, 
though  perhaps  erroneous,  was  as  distant  as  possible 
from  the  Cerinthian  heresy ;  for  those  orthodox  Chris- 
tians were  very  far  from  believing  that  the  felicity  of 
this  kingdom  consisted  in  meats  and  drinks  and  mar- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  41 

riages ;  which,  as  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  informs  us, 
was  the  impure  and  sordid  opinion  of  Cerinthus.  But 
they  expected  a  kingdom  of  Christ,  in  which  peace 
would  flourish,  in  which  truth,' and  righteousness,  and 
piety  would  prevail,  and  the  sacred  name  of  God  be 
every  where  celebrated  with  deserved  praise.  Then 
the  orthodox  hoped  for  a  temporary  kingdom  of  Christ, 
only  as  a  prelude  (if  I  may  so  express  myself)  to  his 
celestial  kingdom,  which  they  believed  would  endure 
through  everlasting  ages."*  Lardner,  in  like  manner, 
endeavours  to  retrieve  the  credit  of  Cerinthus  himself.f 
The  Anti-millennarians,  on  the  other  hand,  though 
they  looked  equally  with  the  others  for  an  ulterior  state 
of  transcendant  prosperity  and  glory  to  the  people  of 
God,  yet  they  strenuously  maintained  that  the  passages 
of  holy  writ  which  announced  it,  were  to  be  allegorically 
interpreted.  Thus  says  Origen  ;  "  Those  who  deny 
the  millennium  arfe  'oi  rpoTroXoyovvJe^  ret  ^po<pi]T(Kx — those 
who  interpret  the  sayings  of  the  prophets  by  a  trope.^^^ 
Those,  on  the  contrary,  who  maintained  it,  are  styled 
solius  literae  discipuli, — disciples  of  the  letter  only. 
The  first,  says  he,  assert  ^horum  vim  fguraliter  intelligi 
debere, — the  import  of  these  things  ought  to  be  figura- 
tively understood;'  the  others,  he  adds,  understand 
the  scripture,  ^^  Judaico  sensu, — after  the  manner  of  the 
JewsJ"^  So  Epiphanius,  speaking  of  the  notion  of  the 
millennium  maintained  by  Apollinarius,  says,  "  There 

*  Bulli  Judicium  Eccl.  Cath.  c.  6.  p.  55. 

t  Lardner's  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  701.  Lond.  1829. 

t  Uepi  apx^v,  L.  2.  c.  12. 

}  Ibid, 


42  TREATISE    ON 

is  indeed  a  millennium  mentioned  by  John,  but  the  ma- 
jority of  pious  men  look  upon  those  words  as  true  in- 
deed, but  to  be  taken  in  a  spiritual  sense."*  The  advo- 
cates of  a  spiritual  interpretation  accordingly  received 
from  the  opposite  party  the  appellation  of  allegorists^ 
and  Nepos,  a  defender  of  the  millennarian  theory,  entitled 
his  work  EAey;^iev  rm  uXXKyopurrm, — a  refutation  of  the 
allegorists.  Of  these  tropical  expositors  Irenaeus  says, 
"  I  am  not  ignorant  that  some  among  us  who  believe, 
in  divers  nations  and  by  various  works,  and  who,  believ- 
ing, do  consent  with  the  just,  do  yet  endeavour, 
(i^sTx<p£pi(v)  to  turn  these  things  into  metaphors.  But 
if  some  have  attempted  to  allegorise  these  things,  they 
have  not  been  found  in  all  things  consistent  with  them- 
selves, and  may  be  confuted  from  the  words  them- 
selves."! 

We  perceive,  however,  an  equal  positiveness  in  the 
deniers  of  what  they  deemed  a  voluptuous  millennium. 
Gennadius  says,  "  In  the  divine  promises  we  believe 
nothing  concerning  meat  and  drink,  as  Irenseus,  Tertul- 
lian,  and  Lactantius  teach  from  their  author  Papias,  nor 
of  the  reign  of  a  thousand  years  of  Christ  on  earth 
after  the  resurrection,  and  the  saints  reigning  deliciously 
with  him,  as  Nepos  taught."J 


*  — aXriGrj  fiiv  ovra,  tv  (SaOdrriri  6e  o-a(^»?vt^(5/x£va  ireiTKTTevKaaiv. — Epiph. 
Haer.  77.  §26,p.  1031. 

t  IrencBUs  Adv.  Hcer.  L.  5.  c.  33. 

if  Non  quod  ad  cibum  vel  ad  potum  pertinet  sicut,  Papia 
auctore,  Irenseus,  Tertullianus,  et  Lactantius  acquiescunt, 
neque  (per)  mille  annos  post  resurrectionem  regnum  Christi  in 
terra  futurum,  et  sanctos  cum  illo  in  deliciis  regnaturos  spera- 
mus,  sicut  Nepos  edocuit.— Gennaf?.  Ecd.  Dogmat.  c.  55. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  43 

Augustin  also  observes  of  this  opinion,  "  That  it 
might  be  tolerable  if  they  mentioned  any  spiritual  de- 
lights which  the  saints  might  enjoy  by  Christ's  pres- 
ence ;  but  since  they  affirm  that  they  who  "then  rise 
shall  enjoy  carnal  and  immoderate  banquets  of  meat 
and  drink  without  modesty,  these  thmgs  can  only  be 
believed  by  carnal  men."* 

Origen  moreover  speaks  of  this  opinion,  "  As  a 
wicked  doctrine,  a  reproach  to  Christianity,  the  heathens 
themselves  having  better  sentiments  than  these."!  And 
Eusebius  says  of  it,  "That  it  took  its  rise  from  Papias, 
a  man  of  slender  judgment ;  but  the  antiquity  of  the 
man  prevailed  with  many  of  the  ecclesiastics  to  be  of 
that  opinion,  particularly  with  Irenaeus,  and  if  there 
were  any  other  of  the  same  judgment  with  him."| 

But  of  all  the  ancients  the  most  inveterate  oppugner 
of  the  millennarian  conceit  was  Jerome. 

"  If,"  says  he, '"  we  understand  the  Revelation  liter- 
ally, we  must  judaize ;  if  spiritually,  as  it  is  written, 
we  shall  seem  to  contradict  many  of  the  ancients,  par- 
ticularly the  Latins,  TertuUian,  Victorinus,  Lactantius ; 
and  the  Greeks  likewise,  especially  Irenaeus,  bishop  of 
Lyons,  against  whom  Dionysius,  bishop  of  the  church 
of  Alexandria,  a  man  of  uncommon  eloquence,  wrote  a 
curious  piece  deriding  the  fable  of  a  thousand  years, 

*  Sed  cum  eos  qui  tunc  resurrexerint  dicunt  immoderatissi- 
mis  carnalibus  epulis  vacaturos,  in  quibus  cibus  sit  tantus  et 
potus,  ut  non  solum  nullam  modestiam  teneant,  sed  modum 
quoque  ipsius  incredulitatis  excedant,  nullo  modo  ista  possunt 
nisi  de  carnalibus,  credi. — August.  De  Civ.  Dec.  L,  20.  c.  7. 

t  Prolegomena  to  the  Canticles. 

t  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccles.  L.  3.  c.  39. 


44  TREATISE    ON 

and  the  terrestrial  Jerusalem  adorned  with  gold  and 
precious  stones  ;  rebuilding  the  temple,  bloody  sacrifices, 
sabbatical  rest,  circumcision,  marriages,  lyings-in,  nurs- 
ing of  children,  dainty  feasts,  and  servitude  of  the 
nations :  and  again  after  this,  wars,  armies,  triumphs, 
and  slaughters  of  conquered  enemies,  and  the  death  of 
the  sinner  a  hundred  years  old.  Him  Apollinarius  an- 
swered in  two  volumes,  whom  not  only  men  of  his  own 
sect,  but  most  of  our  own  people  likewise  follow  in  this 
point.  So  it  is  no  hard  matter  to  foresee  what  a  multi- 
tude of  persons  I  am  like  to  displease."* 

Of  the  Dionysius  here  mentioned  Lardner  says,  "  In 
the  time  of  Dionysius's  episcopate  there  were  great 
numbers  of  Christians  in  the  district  of  Arsinoe  in 
Egypt,  who  were  fond  of  the  millennary  notion,  ex- 
pecting a  kingdom  of  Christ  here  on  earth  in  which 

*  — et  qua  ratione  intelligenda  sit  Apocalypsis  Johannis, 
quam  si  juxta  literam  accipimus,  Judaizandum  est ;  si  spiritu- 
aliter,  ut  scripta  est,  disserimus,  multorum  veterum  opinionibus 
contraire,  Latinorum,  Tertulliani,  Victorini,  Lactantii ;  Grac- 
corum,  ut  caeteros  praetermittam,  Irensei  tantum  Lugdunensis 
episcopi  faciam  mentionem ;  adversus  quern  vir  eloquentissi- 
mus  Dionysius,  Alexandrinse  ecclesiaa  pontifex,  elegantem  scri- 
bit  librum,  irridens  mille  annorum  fabulam  ;  et  auream  atque 
gemmatam  in  terris  Jerusalem  ;  instaurationem  templi ;  hosti- 
arum  sanguinem ;  otium  Sabbati ;  circumcisionis  injuriam, 
nuptias,  partus,  liberorum  educatibnem,  epularum  delicias,  et 
cunctarum  gentium  servitatem  :  rursus  bella,  exercitus,  ac  tri- 
umphos,  et  superatorum  neces,  mortemque  centinarii  peccato- 
ris.  Cui  duobus  voluminibus  respondit  Apollinarius,  quem 
non  solum  suas  sectae  homines,  sed  et  nostrorum  in  hac  parte 
duntaxat  plurima  sequitur  multitudo  ;  ut  prsesaga  mente  jam 
cernam,  quantorum  in  me  rabies  concitanda  sit. — Hitron,  in 
Es.  l.  18.  in  Proem,  p.  477,  478.  Ed.  Bened. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  45 

men  should  enjoy  sensual  pleasures.  These  persons 
were  much  confirmed  in  this  opinion  by  a  book  of 
Nepos,  an  Egyptian  bishop,  entitled,  A  Confutation  of 
the  AUegorists.  Dionysius  had  a  disputation  or  confer- 
ence with  those  Christians,  which  he  gave  an  account 
of  in  one  of  his  books,  written  upon  that  subject.  In  a 
fragment  which  we  have  in  Eusebius,  he  writes  to  this 
purpose  :  '  When,'  says  he,  *  I  was  in  the  province  of 
Arsinoe,  where  you  know  this  opinion  has  for  some  time 
so  far  prevailed  as  to  cause  divisions  and  apostacies  of 
whole  churches,  having  called  together  the  presbyters 
and  teachers  of  the  brethren  in  the  villages,  admitting 
likewise  as  many  of  the  brethren  as  pleased  to  be  pres- 
ent, I  advised  that  this  opinion  should  publicly  be  ex- 
amined into.  And  when  they  produced  to  me  that  book 
as  a  shield  and  impregnable  bulwark,  I  sat  with  them 
three  whole  days  successively,  from  morning  to  even- 
ing, discussing  the  contents  of  it.'  He  then  goes  on 
highly  applauding  the  good  order  of  the  dispute,  the 
moderation  and  candour  of  all  present,  their  willingness 
to  be  convinced,  and  to  retract  their  former  opinions,  if 
reason  so  required :  *  With  a  good  conscience,'  says 
he,  '  and  unfeignedly,  and  with  hearts  open  to  the  sight 
of  God,  embracing  whatever  could  be  made  out  by 
good  arguments  from  the  holy  scriptures.  In  the  end, 
Coracio,  the  chief  defender  of  that  opinion,  engaged 
and  promised,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  brethren,  that 
he  would  no  longer  maintain  nor  defend,  nor  teach,  nor 
make  mention  of  it,  as  being  fully  convinced  by  the 
arguments  on  the  contrary  side.  And  all  the  brethren 
E 


46  TREATISE    ON 

who  were  present  rejoiced  for  the  conference,  and  their 
mutual  reconciliation  and  agreement.'  "* 

In  connexion  with  this  we  shall  append,  as  a  curious 
relic  of  antiquity,  the  judgment  of  this  same  Dionysius 
respecting  the  book  of  Revelation.  After  observing 
that  many  had  rejected  the  book  as  a  forgery  of  Cerin- 
thus,  and  consequently  not  entitled  to  a  place  in  the 
sacred  canon,  he  adds  : — "  For  this  (they  say)  was 
one  of  his  particular  notions,  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ 
should  be  earthly  ;  consisting  of  those  things  which  he 
himself,  a  carnal  and  sensual  man,  most  admired,  the 
pleasures  of  the  belly,  and  of  concupiscence  ;  that  is, 
eating,  and  drinking,  and  marriage  ;  and  for  the  more 
decent  procurement  of  these,  feastings,  and  sacrifices, 
and  slaughters  of  victims.  But,  for  my  part,  I  dare  not 
reject  the  book,  since  many  of  the  brethren  have  it  in 
high  esteem :  but  allowing  it  to  be  above  my  understand- 
ing, I  suppose  it  to  contain  throughout  some  latent  and 
wonderful  meaning ;  for  though  I  do  not  understand  it, 
I  suspect  there  must  be  some  profound  sense  in  the 
words  ;  not  measuring  and  judging  these  things  by  my 
own  reason,  but  ascribing  more  to  faith.  I  esteem  them 
too  sublime  to  be  comprehended  by  me.  Nor  do  I  con- 
demn what  I  have  not  been  able  to  understand :  but  I 
admire  the  more,  because  they  are  above  my  reach."! 

This  is  probably  a  very  correct  account  of  the  light 
in  which  the  great  mass  of  the  Christian  world  at  the 
present  day  view  the  disclosures  (to  them,  mysteries)  of 
this  amazing  book,  notwithstanding  that  the  Holy  Ghost, 


*  Lardner's  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  691. 
t  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  693. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  47 

from  a  foresight  of  the  dis'esteem  into  which  it  would  be 
likely,  in  after  ages,  to  fall,  has,  as  a  prophylactic  guar- 
antee against  neglect,  emblazoned  in  characters  of  light 
upon  the  very  portals  of  this  temple  of  prophecy  the 
inscription — '  Blessed  is  he  that  readeth,' — a  de- 
claration equivalent  to  an  asterisk  of  heaven  pointing  to 
the  vast  importance  and  inestimable  value  of  this  por- 
tion of  the  sacred  oracles.*     This  importance,  as  per- 

*  "  If  that  portion  of  the  Bible  which  has  been  denominated 
the  Revelation  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  and  which  as  such  has 
been  regarded  and  acknowledged  for  seventeen  hundred  years, 
can  be  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  public  to  be  a  spurious 
composition,  let  it  be  separated  from  the  Book  of  God.  Ojr, 
if  any  person  can  satisfy  himself  that  the  whole  production  is 
an  invention  of  man,  let  him  place  it  on  a  level  with  the  Fables 
of  iEsop,  and  regard  them  with  similar  indifference.  But  on 
the  contrary,  if  the  Revelation  of  St.  John  has  come  from  the 
archives  of  heaven,  if  it  has  been  issued  from  the  throne  of 
God,  if  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  out  of  his  tender  regard  for  the 
interests  of  his  people,  and  his  concern  for  their  instruction  and 
encouragement,  has  condescended  to  unseal  the  volume  con- 
taining the  destinies  of  the  Church  and  the  world, — is  there 
any  Christian  who  can  suppose  that  indifference  to  the  Reve- 
lation of  Jesus  Christ  himself  can  be  unattended  with  crimin- 
ality ?  Especially  can  it  be  supposed,  that  the  indifference  of 
a  minister  of  religion  can  be  free  from  a  charge  of  guilt  ?  Is 
he  not  constituted  a  steward  of  the  mysteries  of  God?  And 
ought  he  not  to  endeavour  to  explain  those  mysteries  to  the 
people  under  his  care  ?  If  it  be  said,  that  the  predictions  of 
the  Revelation  are  obscure,  and  that  the  difficulties  and  uncer- 
tainties which  present  themselves  render  every  attempt  at  ex- 
planation an  unprofitable  occupation :  the  difficulty  experi- 
enced ought  to  operate  as  a  reason  for  paying  more  attention 
to  scriptural  expressions,  revealing  divine  purposes  relative  to 
the  future,  and  for  making  a  more  diligent  investigation  to  as- 
certain the  import  of  the  words  of  God.     Besides,  he  that 


48  TREATISE    ON 

taining  to  the  Apocalypse  in  itself  considered,  good  men, 
-who  venerate  the  word  of  God,  are  generally  willing  to 
concede,  but  this  concession  is  in  effect  vacated  by  the 
secret  prevailing  belief  that  its  contents  are  unintelligi- 
ble.    Alas ! 

"  Our  doubts  are  traitors, 
And  make  us  lose  the  good  we  oft  might  win, 
By  fearing  to  attempt." 

From  the  copious  citations  adduced  above  from  the 
records  of  ecclesiastical  antiquity,  it  is  clear  that  the 
Millennarian  hypothesis,  hi  its  literal  and  less  refined 
features,  did  obtain  an  early  prevalence  in  the  church. 
As  little,  we  think,  is  to  be  doubted,  that  the  opinion 
owes  its  origin  to  a  Jewish  source.  To  what  extent  it 
actually  prevailed  among  the  primitive  Christians,  it  is 
not  possible,  perhaps,  from  the  conflicting  testimonies 
of  opposite  schools,  to  determine  with  any  degree  of 

reads  and  those  that  hear  the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and  keep 
them,  are  pronounced  blessed  ;  and  should  not  this  assurance 
be  an  encouragement  and  incentive  to  study  that  portion  of 
Scripture  which  unfolds  to  us  the  future  fortunes  of  the  Church  f 
Have  we  no  ambition,  no  desire,  no  inclination  to  aim  at  and 
attain  the  promised  blessedness  ?  Need  I  remind  the  reader  of 
the  awful  denunciation,  with  which  the  Redeemer  himself 
closes  the  revelation  he  had  made  tb  his  servant  John  ?  '  If 
any  man  shall  add  unto  these  things,  God  shall  add  unto  him 
the  plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book  ;  and  if  any  man  shali 
take  away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God 
shall  take  away  his  part  out  of  the  book  of  life,  and  out  of  the 
holy  city,  and  from  the  things  which  are  written  in  this  book.'  '* 
New  Illustrations  of  Prophecy^  by  W,  Fint,  p.  273, 274.  Lond. 
183i< 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  49 

accuracy.  The  probability  is,  that  during  the  three 
first  centuries  it  was  very  extensively  embraced.  We 
recollect  that  Chillingworth  prefers  it  as  a  very  serious 
charge  against  the  church  of  Rome,  which  -lays  such 
lofty  claims  to  the  perpetuation  within  her  own  bosom 
of  the  pure  unadulterated  doctrines  of  the  apostolic  and 
primitive  ages,  that  in  this  matter  if  in  no  other  she  has 
grossly  falsified  the  creed  of  antiquity,  inasmuch  as 
there  is  ample  evidence  that  the  doctrine  of  the  chili- 
asts  was  actually  the  catholic  faith  of  more  than  one 
century.  And  certainly  there  are  few  judges  more  com- 
petent to  pronounce  upon  the  fact.  At  the  same  time 
we  do  not  regard  the  extent  of  its  prevalence,  or  the 
period  of  its  duration,  as  any  measure  of  the  abstract 
truth  of  the  tenet.  For  ourselves  we  can  easily  con- 
ceive that,  although  the  doctrine  were  really  unsup- 
ported by  Scripture,  there  were  circumstances  in  the 
case  of  the  primitive  believers  which  may  have  contri- 
buted powerfully  to  the  spread  and  influence  of  Millen- 
narianism  among  them.  The  early  days  of  the  church, 
it  is  well  known,  were  the  days  of  persecution.  The 
first  converts  to  Christianity  were  '  compassed  about  by 
a  great  fight  of  afflictions.'  The  espousal  of  the  reli- 
gion of  the  cross,  which  waged  an  exterminating  war 
against  the  standing  superstitions  of  tliie  empire,  exposed 
them,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  all  the  terrors  of  popu- 
lar frenzy  and  of  imperial  indignation.  Being  for  the 
most  part  men  of  uncultivated  minds,  but  of  ardent 
zeal,  unequal  to  the  task  of  a  sublimated  conception  of 
the  spiritual  mysteries  of  revelation,  but  laying  firm 
hold  of  its  literal  and  palpable  representations,  and 
E  2 


50  TREATISE    ON 

deeply  imbued  with  its  divine  spirit,  the  grosser  forms 
of  prophetic  truth  were  precisely  such  as  they  would 
naturally  be  most  prone  to  imbibe,  and  such  too  as  were 
best  suited  to  their  exigencies.  Even  though  we  sup- 
pose their  views  erroneous,  yet  the  error  was  in  itself 
an  innocent  one,  and  with  the  fires  of  martyrdom  kin- 
dling around  them,  and  every  species  of  torture  devised 
to  aggravate  their  sufferings,  what  could  buoy  up  the 
spirits  of  such  a  class  of  men  in  the  hour  of  mortal 
agony,  but  the  promises  and  prospects  of  a  glorious 
reward  such  as  their  rude  and  simple  but  honest  minds 
saw  disclosed  in  the  letter  of  their  Scriptures  1  And  is 
it  2i\\y  disparagement  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Most  High 
that  he  should  so  have  framed  the  word  of  truth  that 
certain  portions  of  it  might  be  susceptible  of  an  inter- 
pretation which,  though  natural,  was  not  necessary, 
though  fallacious,  was  yet  feasible,  and  adapted  to  min- 
ister at  particular  seasons  and  under  peculiar  circum- 
stances, the  most  solid  support  and  consolation  to  its 
disciples  1  For  ourselves  we  have  no  difficulty  in  sup- 
posing that  the  Millennarian  error  was  in  a  peculiai 
manner  winked  at  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  and 
that  the  belief  of  it  was  calculated  to  produce  and  did 
produce  results  of  a  most  auspicious  character,  which 
under  the  circumstances  a  different  and  even  a  more 
correct  construction  of  the  sacred  oracles  would  have 
failed  to  effect.  On  the  same  principle,  in  all  probabil- 
ity, we  may  account  for  the  general  prevalence  at  that 
early  period  of  the  sentiment  respecting  the  speedy  dis- 
solution of  the  world  and  the  consummation  of  all 
things.     *'  In  the  primitive  church,"  says  Gibbon,  "  the 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  51 

influence  of  truth  was  very  powerfully  strengthened  by 
an  opinion,  which,  however  it  may  deserve  respect  for 
its  usefulness  and  antiquity,  has  not  been  found  agree- 
able to  experience.  It  was  universally  believed  that  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  were  at 
hand.  The  near  approach  of  this  wonderful  event  had 
been  predicted  by  the  apostles ;  the  tradition  of  it  was 
preserved  by  their  earliest  disciples,  and  those  who  ini- 
derstood  in  their  literal  sense  the  discourses  of  Christ 
himself,  were  obliged  to  expect  the  second  and  glorious 
coming  of  the  Son  of  man  in  the  clouds,  before  that 
generation  was  totally  extinguished,  which  had  beheld 
his  humble  condition,  and  which  might  still  be  witness 
of  the  calamities  of  the  Jews  under  Vespasian  or  Ha- 
drian. The  revolution  of  seventeen  centuries  has  in- 
structed us  not  to  press  too  closely  the  mysterious  lan- 
guage of  prophecy  and  revelation  ;  hut  as  long  as,  for 
wise  purposes,  this  error  was  permitted  to  subsist  in  the 
church  it  was  productive  of  the  most  salutary  effects  on 
the  faith  and  practice  of  Christians,  who  lived  in  the 
awful  expectation  of  that  moment  when  the  globe  itself, 
and  all  the  various  race  of  mankind,  should  tremble  at 
the  appearance  of  their  divine  Judge."*  Can  it  be 
doubted  that  the  language  of  the  sacred  writers  is  so 
constructed,  as  that  it  should,  before  the  event  proved 
the  contrary,  tend  to  countenance  and  cherish  the  belief 
here  stated  ?  When  we  hear  the  apostles  saying,  *The 
end  of  all  things  is  at  hand' — '  we  which  are  alive  and 
remain  shall  be  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air' 

♦  Decl,  and  Fall,  p.  185.     Ed.  in  one  vol. 


52  TREATISE    ON 

— '  lo,  I  come  quickly' — '  the  time  is  at  hand' — '  things 
which  must  shortly  come  to  pass' — it  is  obvious  that 
such  expressions,  to  say  nothing  of  our  Lord's  predic- 
tion of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  which  might  be 
thought  to  include  the  destruction  of  the  world,  are  ca- 
pable of  being  construed  in  a  sense  to  warrant  the  most 
sanguine  expectations  that  were  built  upon  them.  And 
who  shall  say  that  this  end  might  not  have  been  ex- 
pressly designed  under  God  to  be  answered  by  the  pe- 
culiar phraseology  in  which  the  announcements  were 
couched  ?  For  aught  we  know,  in  fact,  the  apostles 
themselves  might  have  been  of  the  prevailing  belief,  as 
we  have  met  with  no  reasoning  which  convinces  us  that 
they  always  understood  the  full  reach  and  import  of  their 
own  writings. 

Here  it  may  be  objected,  that  it  is  not  altogether  con- 
sistent to  attribute  to  the  primitive  Christians  the  belief 
in:  the  speedy  catastrophe  of  the  world,  when  at  the 
same  time  their  millennarian  notions  required  them  to 
hold  that  six  thousand  years  must  first  elapse  before 
that  blissful  period  would  dawn  upon  the  earth.  But 
the  truth  is,  that,  owing  to  a  radical  error  in  their  chro- 
nological calculus,  they  conceived  themselves  as  actu- 
ally having  arrived  at  the  eve  of  the  world's  seventh 
millennary,  or,  in  other  words,  as  having  their  lot  cast 
on  the  Saturday  of  the  great  antypical  Week  of  the 
creation.  "  The  primitive  church  of  Antioch,"  says 
the  historian  above  cited,  "  computed  almost  6000  years 
from  the  creation  of  the  world  to  the  birth  of  Christ. 
Africanus,  Lactantius,  and  the  Greek  church,  have  re- 
duced that  number  to  5,500,  and  Eusebius  has  con- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  63 

tented  himself  with  5^200  years.  These  calculations 
were  formed  on  the  Septuagint,  which  was  universally- 
received  during  the  first  six  centuries."* 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  ancient  testinionies,  the 
reader  will  tolerate  another  extract  from  the  History  of 
the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  couched 
in  the  usual  flowing  and  eloquent  vein  of  the  author. 
"  The  ancient  and  popular  doctrine  of  the  millennium 
was  intimately  connected  with  the  second  coming  of 
Christ.  As  the  works  of  the  creation  had  been  finished 
in  six  days,  their  duration  in  their  present  state,  accord- 
ing to  a  tradition  which  was  attributed  to  the  prophet 
Elijah,  was  fixed  to  six  thousand  years.  By  the  same 
analogy  it  was  inferred,  that  this  long  period  of  labour 
and  contention,  which  was  now  almost  elapsed,  would 
be  succeeded  by  a  joyful  sabbath  of  a  thousand  years  ; 
and  that  Christ,  with  the  triumphant  band  of  the  saints 
and  the  elect  wh6  had  escaped  death,  or  who  had  been 
miraculously  revived,  would  reign  upon  earth  till  the 
time  appointed  for  the  last  and  general  resurrection. 
So  pleasing  was  this  hope  to  the  mind  of  believers, 
that  the  Neiv  Jerusalem,  the  seat  of  this  blissful  king- 
dom, was  quickly  adorned  with  all  the  gayest  colours 
of  the  imagination.  A  felicity  consisting  only  of  pure 
and  spiritual  pleasure  would  have  appeared  too  refinecf 
for  its  inhabitants,  who  were  still  supposed  to  possess 
their  human  nature  and  senses.  A  garden  of  Eden, 
with  the  amusements  of  the  pastoral  life,  was  no  longer 
suited  to  the  advanced  state  of  society  which  prevailed 

*  Decl.  and  Fall,  p.  185. 


54  TREATISE    ON 

under  the  Roman  empire.  A  city  was  therefore  erected 
of  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  a  supernatural  plenty 
of  corn  and  wine  was  bestowed  on  the  adjacent  terri- 
tory ;  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  whose  spontaneous  pro- 
ductions, the  happy  and  benevolent  people  was  never 
to  be  restrained  by  any  jealous  laws  of  exclusive  pro- 
perty. The  assurance  of  such  a  millennium  was  care- 
fully inculcated  by  a  succession  of  fathers  from  Justin 
Martyr  and  Irenaeus,  who  conversed  with  the  immediate 
disciples  of  the  apostles,  down  to  Lactantius,  who  was 
preceptor  to  the  son  of  Constantine.  Though  it  might 
not  be  universally  received,  it  appears  to  have  been  the 
reigning  sentiment  of  the  orthodox  believers ;  and  it 
seems  so  well  adapted  to  the  desires  and  apprehensions 
of  mankind,  that  it  must  have  contributed  in  a  very 
essential  degree  to  the  progress  of  the  Christian  faith. 
But  when  the  edifice  of  the  church  was  almost  com- 
pleted, the  temporary  support  was  laid  aside.  The 
doctrine  of  Christ's  reign  upon  earth  was  at  first  treated 
as  a  profound  allegory,  was  considered  by  degrees  as  a 
doubtful  and  useless  opinion,  and  was  at  length  rejected 
as  the  absurd  invention  of  heresy  and  fanaticism."* 

*  Decl.  and  Fall,  p.  185,  186. 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  56 


CHAPTER  II. 

MODERN  OPINIONS  RESPECTING  THE  APOCALYPTIC 
MILLENNIUM. 

Historical  Sketch  of  the  Decline  of  the  Millennarian  theory, 
and  of  its  Revival  at  the  Reformation — The  modern  Advo- 
cates of  a  future  Millennium  divided  into  two  Classes — The 
first  hold  to  the  personal  Reign  of  Christ  on  earth  during  the 
thousand  years — Mede,  Caryll,  Gill,  Noel,  Irving,  Ander- 
son, quoted — Claim  to  found  their  Expectation  upon  a  pass- 
age in  the  second  Epistle  of  Peter — Remarks  upon  this  Inter- 
pretation— The  second  Class  deny  the  Personal,  but  maintain 
the  Spiritual  Reign  of  Christ — Confirmed  by  Extracts  from 
Whitby,  Bogue,  Johnston. 

t 
The  Millennarian  hypothesis,  as  it  respects  the  pat- 
ronage which  it  has  at  different  periods  received,  has 
been  remarkable  for  a  series  of  waxings  and  wanings. 
During  the  first  ages  of  the  church,  when  the  style  of 
Christianity  was  '  to  believe,  to  love,  and  to  suffer,'  this 
sentiment  seems  to  have  obtained  a  prevalence  so  gen- 
eral as  to  be  properly  entitled  all  but  absolutely  catholic. 
After  the  lapse  of  the  three  first  centuries,  a  gradual 
change  was  wrought  in  public  opinion  in  regard  to  this 
doctrine ;  a  change  effected  by  the  combined  influence 
of  secular  prosperity  in  the  church,  and  of  the  contro- 
versial opposition  of  great  names  against  the  tenet  itself. 
Origen,  Augustine,  and  Jerome  successively  arrayed 
themselves  against  a  Judaizing  dogma  discountenanced, 


56  TREATISE    ON 

as  they  supposed,  at  once  by  the  spiritual  genius  of 
Christianity,  and  by  a  fair  and  rational  interpretation  of 
its  letter.  Their  influence,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  con- 
tributed powerfully  to  weaken  the  hold  which  millenna- 
rianism  had  upon  the  minds  of  their  contemporaries,  and 
to  pave  the  way  for  its  general  abandonment.  Add  to 
this,  that  the  more  favored  and  felicitous  condition  of  the 
church  under  Constantine  and  his  successors  for  one  or 
two  centuries,  tended  naturally  to  wean  the  thoughts  of 
the  pious  from  the  anticipation  of  future  to  the  medita- 
tion of  present  blessedness,  in  which  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  some  beheld  an  actual  fulfilment  of  the  promised 
rest,  peace,  and  joy  of  the  world's  expected  Sabbatism. 
During  the  invasions  of  the  northern  nations  and  the 
deluge  of  disasters  which  then  flowed  in  upon  the  empire, 
speculation  was  overborne,  and  the  minds  of  Christians 
were  absorbed  by  the  commotions  of  the  times  and  the 
evils  endured  by  them  or  impending  over  them.  Little 
attention  therefore  was  paid  to  the  themes  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, and  the  conceptions  they  had  formed  of  prophetic 
scripture,  if  they  had  formed  any,  became  confused  and 
obscure ;  they  waited  for  light,  but  darkness  continued 
to  surround  them. 

Through  the  dreary  tract  of  the  ages  of  darkness 
scarcely  a  vestige  of  millennarian  sentiments  is  to  be 
traced,  but  the  dormancy  of  the  doctrine  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  rousing  events,  the  moral  earthquake 
of  the  Reformation.  The  Anabaptists  in  Germany, 
and,  some  time  after,  the  Fifth  Monarchy  men  in 
England  carried  their  notions  to  the  extreme  of  infatua- 
tion, and  created  a  destructive  ferment  around  them. 


THE    MILLENNIUM,  67 

At  length  the  ebullition  of  enthusiasm  subsided,  and 
the  fiery  zeal  of  mistaken  men  died  away.  Since 
that  time  till  within  a  very  few  years  the  millennarian 
cause  has  excited  little  interest  and  occasioned  little 
disturbance.  The  writings  of  Mede  in  the  seventeenth 
century  revived  indeed  in  a  measure  the  ancient  doctrine, 
and  individual  writers  have  at  one  time  and  another  be- 
tween that  time  and  the  present  sent  forth  their  specula- 
tions, advocating  substantially  the  same  views.  Within 
the  period,  however,  of  five  or  six  years,  the  subject  has 
acquired  anew  a  considerable  degree  of  prominence, 
and  given  rise,  particularly  in  England,  to  an  animated 
controversy,  which  is  yet  dividing  the  ranks  of  biblists 
and  theologians.  The  letter-men  and  the  allegorists  of 
the  three  first  centuries  are  revived  in  the  literalists  and 
the  spiritualists  of  the  present  day. 

The  sentiments  of  those  in  modern  times  who  may 
be  ranked  under  tliese  two  heads  may  be  gathered  with 
sufficient  distinctness  from  the  ensuing  series  of  extracts 
from  their  principal  writers. 

1 .  Those  who  hold  to  the  personal  reign  of  Christ  on 
earth  during  the  thousand  years. 

Of  this  class  the  venerable  Joseph  Mede,  born  1586, 
died  1638,  one  of  the  profoundest  Biblical  scholars  of 
the  English  church,  of  whom  it  was  said  that  in  the 
explication  of  the  mysterious  passages  of  scripture,  '  he 
discerned  the  day  before  others  had  opened  their  eyes,' 
may  be  considered  in  modern  times  the  father.  He  was 
distinguished  for  the  diffidence,  modesty,  and  caution 
with  which  he  broached  his  opinions  on  these  recondite 
Bubjects.  As  to  the  character  of  the  expected  millennial 
F 


68  TREATISE    ON 

kingdom  of  Christ,  the  following  is  his  unpresuming 
language : — 

"  What  the  quality  of  this  reign  should  be,  which  is  so 
singularly  differenced  from  ihe  reign  of  Christ  hitherto, 
is  neither  easy  nor  safe  to  determine,  further  than  that 
it  should  be  the  reign  of  our  Savior's  victory  over  his 
enemies,  wherein  Satan  being  bound  up  from  deceiving 
the  nations  any  more,  till  the  time  of  his  reign  be  fulfilled, 
the  Church  should  consequently  enjoy  a  most  blissful 
peace  and  happy  security  from  the  heretical  apostacies 
and  calamitous  sufferings  of  former  times ;  but  here  (if 
any  where)  the  known  shipwrecks  of  those  who  have 
been  too  venturous  should  make  us  most  wary  and  care- 
ful, that  we  admit  nothing  into  our  imaginations  which 
may  cross  or  impeach  any  catholic  tenet  of  the  Christian 
fahh,  as  also  to  beware  of  gross  and  carnal  conceits  of 
Epicurean  happiness,  misbeseeming  the  spiritual  purity  of 
saints.  If  we  conceit  any  delights,  let  them  be  spiritual. 
The  presence  of  Christ  in  this  kingdom  will  no  doubt  be 
glorious  and  evident,  yet  I  dare  not  so  much  as  imagine 
(which  some  ancients  seem  to  have  thought)  that  it 
should  be  a  visible  converse  on  earth.  Yet  we  grant, 
he  will  appear  and  be  visibly  revealed  from  heaven ; 
especially  for  the  calling  and  gathering  of  his  ancient 
people,  for  whom  in  the  days  of  old  he  did  so  m.any 
wonders." — Mede's  Works,  Book  iii.  Rem.  ch.  xii.  p.  603. 

The  subsequent  testimony  of  the  excellent  Joseph 
Caryll,  author  of  a  Commentary  on  Job,  is  prefixed  to 
a  work  published  by  Nathaniel  Holmes,  D.D.  during 
the  period  of  the  English  Commonwealth : — 

"That  all  the  saints  shall  reign  with  Christ  a  thousand 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  59 

years  on  earth,  in  a  wonderful,  both  spiritual  and  visible, 
glorious  manner  before  the  time  of  the  ultimate  and 
general  resurrection,  is  a  position  which,  though  not  a 
few  have  hesitated  about  and  some  opposed,  yet  has 
gained  ground  in  the  hearts  and  judgments  of  very  many 
both  brave  and  godly  men,  who  have  left  us  divers 
essays  and  discourses  upon  this  subject.  And  having 
perused  the  learned  and  laborious  travails  of  this  author, 
I  conceive  that  the  church  of  God  hath  not  hitherto  seen 
this  great  point  so  clearly  stated,  so  largely  discussed,  so 
strongly  confirmed,  not  only  by  the  testimony  of  ancient 
and  modern  writers  of  all  sorts,  but  by  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures throughout,  as  it  is  presented  in  this  book.  Wherein 
also  divers  other  considerable  points  are  collaterally  han- 
dled, all  tending  to  set  foith  the  catastrophe  and  result 
of  all  the  troubles  and  hopes  of  such  as  fear  God,  as  the 
preface  to  their  eternal  bliss.  And  whereas  some  have 
been  and  still  are  apt  to  abuse  this  doctrine  by  making 
it  an  occasion  to  the  flesh,  and  of  heating  themselves  in 
the  expectation  of  a  carnal  liberty  and  a  worldly  glory, 
I  find  that  this  author  hath  cautiously  forelaid  and  pre- 
vented all  such  abuses,  by  showing  the  exceeding  spir- 
itualness  and  holiness  of  this  state,  to  which  as  none  but 
the  truly  holy  shall  attain,  or  having  attained  it,  they 
shall  walk  in  the  height  of  holiness.  And  therefore  I 
judge  this  book  very  useful  for  the  saints  and  worthy  of 
the  public  view." — Congreg.  Magaz.  New  Series,  vol. 
V.  p.  39. 

Approaching  nearer  to  our  own  times.  Dr.  Gill  stands 
forth  conspicuously  among  his  contemporaries  as  a  dis- 
tinguished advocate  of  millennarianism. 


60  TREATISE  ON 

"  There  will  be  a  personal  and  glorious  appearance- 
of  the  Son  of  God,  'the  Lord  himself  shall  descend'' 
(1  Thess.  4.  16.)  not  by  his  Spirit  or  the  communication 
of  his  grace,  or  by  his  gracious  presence  as  before  ;  but 
in  person  he  will  descend  from  the  third  heaven,  where 
he  is  in  our  nature,  into  the  air  where  he  will  be  visible  ; 
every  eye  shall  see  him  when  he  cometh  with  clouds,  or 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  which  will  be  his  chariot ;  he 
will  descend  on  earth  at  the  proper  time ;  and  his  feet 
shall  stand  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives  ;  on  that  spot  of 
ground  from  whence  he  ascended  to  heaven.  Job  seems 
to  have  this  descent  of  his  in  view  when  he  says,  '  He 
shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth ;'  which 
seems  to  respect  not  so  much  his  first  coming  as  his 
second,  since  it  is  connected  with  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  There  will  be  (also)  a  resurrection  of  the  bodies 
of  the  saints ;  the  dead  in  Christ,  who  died  in  union  with 
him,  believers  in  him,  and  partakers  of  his  grace  shall 
rise  first :  they  will  have  the  dominion  over  the  wicked 
in  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  who  will  not  rise 
until  the  end  of  that  day ;  there  will  be  a  thousand 
years  distance  between  the  resurrection  of  the  one  and 
that  of  the  other ;  hence  the  resurrection  of  the  just  as 
that  is  named  in  distinction  from  that  of  the  unjust,  is 
called  the  first  resurrection,  Rev.  20.  5,  6." 

After  mentioning  the  change  of  living  saints,  their 
being  caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,  and  the 
conflagration  of  the  material  heavens  and  earth,  he  pro- 
ceeds : — 

"  Then  there  will  succeed  new  heavens  and  a  new- 
earth,  which  God  has  promised,  and  which  tlie  Apostle 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  61 

Peter  says,  saints  look  for  according  to  his  promise ; 
and  of  which  the  Apostle  John  had  a  vision.  To  this 
new  earth  Christ  will  descend,  and  he  will  dwell  in  it 
here ;  the  tabernacle  of  God  will  be  with  men,  and  he 
shall  dwell  with  them ;  this  shall  be  the  seat  of  Christ's 
personal  reign  ;  here  he  \vill  reign  before  his  ancients  glo- 
riously ;  here  he  will  have  his  palace  and  keep  his  court, 
and  display  his  glory  and  the  greatness  of  his  majesty  ; 
and  here  his  people  will  dwell  with  him,  who  will  now 
be  all  righteous,  perfectly  so,  even  righteousness  itself; 
for  in,  these  new  heavens  and  new  earth  will  dwell 
righteousness  ;  nothing  shall  enter  into  this  glorious  New 
Jerusalem-state  that  worketh  abomination  or  maketh  a 
He  ;  it  will  be  a  perfectly  holy  city,  consisting  wholly  of 
holy  persons ;  wherefore  blessed  and  holy  is  he  that 
hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection :  nor  will  there  be  any 
enemy  to  annoy  the  saints  in  this  state  ;  the  wicked  will 
be  all  burnt  and  destroyed  at  the  general  conflagration  ; 
the  beast  and  the  false  prophet,  before  this,  will  be  cast 
alive  into  the  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone  ;  Satan 
will  be  bound  by  Christ,  and  cast  into  the  bottomless 
pit,  where  he  will  remain  till  the  thousand  years  are 
fulfilled :  for  so  long  will  this  state  continue ;  so  long 
will  Satan  be  bound  ;  so  long  the  saints  will  live  and 
reign  with  Christ ;  this  will  be  the  day  of  the  Lord, 
which  is  a  thousand  years,  and  which  thousand  years 
will  be  as  one  day.  At  the  close  of  these  years  Satan 
will  be  loosed  again,  and  the  wicked  dead  will  be  raised  ; 
which,  with  the  whole  posse  of  devils,  will  make  the 
Gog  and  Magog  army,  who  shall  be  in  the  four  quarters 
of  the  world,  and  go  up  on  the  breadth  of  the  earth ; 
F2 


62  TREATISE  ON 

and  whose  number  shall  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  being 
all  the  wicked  that  have  been  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  ;  a  large  army  indeed,  such  a  one  as  never  was 
before,  consisting  of  enraged  devils,  and  of  men  raised 
with  all  that  malice  and  wickedness  they  died  in,  with 
Satan  at  the  head  of  them ;  by  whom  they  will  be  ani- 
mated to  make  this  last  feeble  and  foolish  effort  for  their 
recovery  and  liberty ;  in  order  to  which  they  will  com- 
pass the  camp  of  the  saints  about,  and  the  beloved  city  ; 
who  will  be  in  no  manner  of  pain  and  uneasiness  at  the 
appearance  of  this  seeming  formidable  army ;  being 
clothed  with  immortality,  secured  by  the  power  of  God, 
and  Christ  being  in  person  with  them  ;  then  fire  shall 
come  down  from  heaven  and  devour  the  wicked ;  the 
wrath  of  God  shall  seize,  distress,  and  terrify  them ; 
divert  them  from  their  purpose,  and  throw  them  into  the 
utmost  consternation  and  confusion  ;  and  then  they  shall 
be  dragged  to  the  tribunal  of  Christ  and  stand  before 
him,  small  and  great,  and  be  judged  according  to  their 
works,  and  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  where  they  will 
be  in  company  with  the  devil,  the  beast,  and  false  pro- 
phet, and  be  tormented  with  them  for  ever  and  ever." — 
GilVs  Sermon  on  the  Glory  of  the  Church  of  the  Latter 
Day ^  preached  London,  Dec.  27,  1752. 

"  It  will  be  gathered  from  the  foregoing  statements, 
that  I  expect  the  personal  and  visible  kingdom  of  Christ 
to  rise  out  of  the  desolation  and  ruin  of  the  fourth  mon- 
archy ill  the  last  days  of  its  divided  state  ;  that  I  believe 
no  fifth  dominant  sovereignty  similar  to  the  four  mon- 
archies of  Assyria,  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome,  will  ever 
be  established  upon  earth ;  but  that  the  power  of  Christ, 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  63 

when  it  smites  to  shivers  the  last  of  these  monarchies 
in  its  divided  state,  will  establish  upon  their  subverted 
thrones  the  everlasting  throne  of  his  grace  and  media- 
torial strength ;  that  I  believe  this  throne  will  admit  the 
subordination  of  other  human  sovereignties,  and  corrob- 
orate and  support  the  blessings  of  civil  government  and 
concord  through  the  world  :  that  the  glorified  saints  of 
the  '  first  resurrection'  will  be  associated  with  Christ  in 
the  direction  and  consolidation  of  this  peaceful  empire ; 
and  that  the  world  will  thus  exhibit  a  gladdening  spec- 
tacle of  a  vast  population  of  men  still  indeed  mortal  and 
subject  to  occasional  ill,  but  peaceful,  generous,  disin- 
terested, living  in  concord,  and  heartfelt  union  ;  a  union 
social,  domestic,  and  political ;  attributing  all  their  bless- 
ings to  the  grace  and  power  of  Christ,  and  recognising 
his  will  and  love  alike  in  the  exercise  of  power,  and  in 
the  submission  of  obedience ;  and  that  the  higher  man- 
agement and  contj'ol  of  this  world  will  be  in  the  hands 
first  of  Christ  himself,  and  under  him  in  the  hands  of 
men — of  men  once  like  the  mortal  sojourners  they  gov- 
ern, but  now  glorified  like  their  Lord,  and  living  amidst 
their  mortal  kindred  as  benefactors,  princes,  and  kings. 
It  is  not  needful  to  suppose  their  presence  to  be  always 
apparent  to  their  happy  subjects  ;  but  still  their  visible 
manifestations  to  be  sufficiently  frequent  to  sustain  the 
mutual  allegiance  and  concord  of  mankind,  to  cheer  the 
intercourse  of  life,  and  to  perpetuate  an  abiding  recogni- 
tion of  their  intense  benevolence  and  their  sovereign 
authority." — NoeVs  Brief  Enquiry,  p.  154. 

"The  events  of  the  history  are  these: — The  two 
forms  of  Antichrist,  the  beast   and  the   false  prophet, 


64  TREATISE    ON 

being  taken  alive  and  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  and  the' 
kings  of  the  earth  confederate  under  their  banners, 
being  slain ;  the  devil,  prime  mover  of  the  earth's  wick- 
edness and  misery,  is  restrained  in  chains  vt^ithin  the 
bottomless  pit,  and  straightway  the  first  resurrection 
ensueth,  and  Christ  with  his  rising  saints  takes  the  reins 
of  the  government  of  the  earth.  The  earth,  thus  de- 
livered from  the  headship  of  Satan  and  wicked  men,  re- 
joiceth  in  great  blessedness,  under  the  headship  of  Christ 
and  righteous  men  raised  from  the  dead.  And  thus 
things  shall  stand  constituted  for  the  period  of  the  thou- 
sand years  ; — whether  literal  years  we  say  not,  nor 
doth  it  at  all  concern  us,  but  certainly  a  limited  time, 
however  short  or  long,  and  certainly  not  shorter  than  a 
thousand  literal  years.  At  the  end  of  which  finite  time, 
the  wickedness  of  men  haply  increasing,  and  the  grace 
of  God  being  accomplished,  Satan  shall  be  loosed,  and 
men  in  this  bitter  condition  shall  be  tried ;  and  it  shall 
appear  that  except  the  Jewish  people  who  are  under  a 
covenant  of  their  own  (Ezek.  16.),  all  the  nations,  en- 
vious haply  of  that  distinction,  and  disobedient  to  their 
supremacy,  shall  give  way,  and  come  up  in  proud  revolt 
to  try  their  might  against  the  people  of  God's  covenant, 
and  against  his  holy  city,  which  hath  its  seat  within 
these  bounds.  This  last  confederacy  of  evil  is  written 
in  the  language  of  Ezekiel's  vision  of  Gog  and  Magog 
(chaps.  38,  and  39.)^  and  will  find  its  best  illus- 
trations from  that  confederacy  of  the  nations  against 
Israel  settled  in  their  own  land,  before  the  millennium 
eommenceth.  Then  it  is  that  God  shall  interfere  and 
show  his  mighty  power  in  Christ,  who  shall  consume 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  65 

them  with  fire  out  of  heaven." — Rev.  E.  Irving's  LecU 
on  the  Rev.,  vol.  i.  p.  80,  81.     Lond.  1831. 

"  I  believe  that  the  dispersed  of  Israel,  having  been 
gathered  into  one,  and  nationally  restored  to  the  land  of 
their  fathers ;  that  the  secular  empire  of  Rome,  exhib- 
ited at  present  in  its  divided  form  of  the  various  prin- 
cipalities of  , Europe,  having  been  revolutionised  and 
desolated  ;  that  the  Turkish  empire  having  undergone  a 
similar  fate  ;  that  the  ecclesiastical  dominion  of  popery- 
having  been  thrown  down  with  a  violent  hand,  as  when 
the  angel  plunged  the  mill-stone  into  the  sea ;  that  all 
earth-bom  power  whatsoever  ha^dng  been  abolished 
throughout  the  world  ;  and  that  Satan  having  been  ex- 
pelled from  the  government  which  he  has  usurped  so 
extensively — then  shall  the  TiOrd  Jesus  Christ,  revealed 
from  heaven  in  his  glorified  humanity,  himself  assume  the 
power,  and  reign  on  earth  as  universal  king:  at  which  time 
he  shall  to  a  considerable  extent  restore  this  globe  to  its 
primitive  order,  beauty,  and  fertility ;  give  the  saints  who 
are  dead  a  resurrection  from  the  grave  ;  transform  them 
who  are  alive  ;  liken  them  in  glory  to  his  glorified  self; 
and  assemble  them  in  the  New  Jerusalem,  where  they 
shall  dwell  and  reign  with  Him. — That  this  reign  of 
righteousness  and  peace  shall  continue  for  at  least  one 
thousand  solar  years,  after  which  Satan  shall  be  loosed 
again,  and  prevail  to  the  seduction  of  many,  till  the 
defection  have  reached  such  a  height,  that  the  rebels 
shall  make  an  attempt  on  the  sanctity  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, when  signal  vengeance  shall  miraculously  over- 
take them. — That  then  shall  the  trumpet  blow  its  dread- 
ful blast  to  the  Second  Resurrection,  when  all  the  dead 


66  TREATISE    ON 

wicked  shall  also  be  raised,  and  judged,  and  consigned 
over  to  the  second  death. — That  this  being  transacted, 
the  Son  shall  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  the  Father, 
having  completed  his  mediatorial  work. — What  shall 
succeed  this  I  know  not  particularly,  further  than  that  I 
do  not  believe  that  the  earth  shall  be  annihilated,  but 
that  rectified  and  beautified  it  shall  last  for  ever,  as  the 
happy'  abode  of  the  saints." — Andersan's  ApoL  for 
Milhn.  Doctrine,  parti,  p.  1,  2.     Glasg.  1830. 

That  the  sentiments  of  modern  millennarians  are,  in 
their  leading  features,  but  the  revival  of  the  ancient 
doctrine  as  held  by  Justin  Martyr,  Ireneeus,  and  liac- 
tantius,  is  rendered  indubitable,  wc  think,  by  the  fore- 
going extracts.  And  if,  as  we  have  endeavoured  to 
show,  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers  was  merely  a  trans- 
plantation of  the  Jewish  tenet  into  the  Christian  church, 
it  follows  that  the  modern  hypothesis  can  claim  for 
itself  no  other  origin.  We  are  aware  indeed  that  there 
are  two  passages  of  scripture  which  are  pressed  into 
the  service  of  this  theory,  and  upon  which  great  reli- 
ance is  placed  as  containing  all  but  a  positive  demon- 
stration of  its  truth.  The  first  is  Ps.  90.  4,  '  For  a 
thousand  years  in  thy  sight  are  but  as  yesterday  when 
it  is  past,  and  as  a  watch  in  the  night.'  The  second^ 
which  is  supposed  to  be  a  quotation  of  the  former, 
occurs  2  Pet.  3.  8.  "  Beloved,  be  not  ignorant  of  this 
one  thing,  that  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand 
years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day."  How  this 
language  is  understood  in  connexion  with  the  millenna- 
rian  notion  will  appear  from  the  following  comment, 
although  the  author  does  not  in  other  points  agree  with 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  67 

that  school.  "  He  says,  '  Be  not  ignorant  of  this  one 
things  that  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand 
years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day.'  By  this  ex- 
pression, '  this  one  thing,''  he  plainly  shows"  that  it  is 
not  used  as  a  general  expression ;  for  in  that  way  it  is 
as  true,  and  might  as  well  be  said,  that  one  day  is  with 
the  Lord  as  a  million  of  years.  To  show  that  he  used 
the  expression  in  a  very  particular  sense,  the  apostle 
repeats  it,  '  that  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day.'  It 
is  highly  probable,  that  it  is  in  reference  to  some  such 
division  of  time  as  the  ages  of  the  world  into  seven 
millennaries,  and  the  seventh  of  these  a  sabbatism,  that 
six  days  were  spent  in  the  creation  of  the  world,  and 
that  the  seventh  was  sanctified  for  a  sabbath.  The 
Almighty  Creator  could  have  made  the  world  in  a  mo- 
ment, as  easily  as  in  six  days  ;  and  for  any  thing  which 
we  know,  another  day  or  another  proportion  of  time 
might  have  been  is  fit  for  a  sabbath  as  the  seventh." — 
Johnston  on  the  Revelation,  vol.  ii.  p.  326. 

Mede  speaks  to  the  same  effect.  After  giving  the 
following  as  a  correct  paraphrase  of  the  words  : — "  But 
whereas  I  mentioned  the  day  of  judgment,  lest  ye  might 
mistake  it  for  a  short  day,  or  a  day  of  a  few  hours,  I 
would  not,  beloved,  have  you  ignorant,  that  one  day  is 
with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years 
as  one  day" — he  observes  ; — "  Thus  I  expound  these 
words  by  way  of  a  preoccupation  or  premunition ;  be- 
cause they  are  the  formal  words  of  the  Jewish  doctors 
when  they  speak  of  the  day  of  judgment  or  day  of  Christ, 
as  St.  Peter  here  doth  ;  viz.  '  Una  dies  Dei  Sancti  Bene- 
dicti  sunt  mille  ann€ — *jt  thousand  years  are  one  day 


68  TREATISE  ON 

of  the  Holy  Blessed  God.''  And  though  they  use  to 
quote  that  of  the  ninetieth  Psahn,  {Mille  anni  in  oculis 
tuis  sicut  dies  hesternus' — A  thousand  years  in  thy 
sight  are  as  yesterday,)  for  confirmation  thereof,  yet 
are  not  those  words  formally  in  the  Psalm.  So  that  St. 
Peter  in  this  passage  seems  rather  to  have  had  respect 
to  that  common  saying  of  the  Jews  in  this  argument,  than 
to  the  words  of  the  Psalm,  where  the  words,  '  One  day 
with  the  Lord  is  as  a  thousand  years,'  are  not,  though 
the  latter  part  of  the  sentence,  '  a  thousand  years  as  one 
day,'  may  allude  thither ;  as  the  Jews  also  were  wont 
to  bring  it  for  a  confirmation  of  the  former.  2.  These 
words  are  commonly  taken  as  an  argument  vfhy  God 
should  not  be  thought  '  slack  in  his  promise'  (which 
follows  in  the  next  verse) ;  but  the  first  fathers  took  it 
otherwise ;  and  besides  it  proves  it  not.  For  the  ques- 
tion is  not,  whether  the  time  be  long  or  short  in  respect 
of  God,  but  whether  it  be  long  or  short  in  respect 
of  us  ;  otherwise  not  only  a  thousand  but  an  hundred 
thousand  years  are  in  the  eyes  of  God  no  more  than  one 
day  is  to  us,  and  so  it  would  not  seem  long  to  God  if  the 
day  of  judgment  should  be  deferred  till  then." — Mede's 
Works,  Book  iii.  p.  611. 

Of  the  interpretation  of  this  passage  given  by  the 
writers  now  cited  it  may  be  said,  that  the  allusion  to  the 
traditionary  hebdomadal  division  of  time,  if  it  do  exist 
in  the  words,  is  so  extremely  covert  that  it  will  ever  be 
liable  to  be  questioned  or  denied.  The  evidence  by 
which  such  an  interpretation  is  to  be  demonstratively 
shewn  to  be  the  true  one  is  and  always  must  be  wanting. 
One  man  may  be  firm  in  the  belief  that  such  is  indeed 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  69 

the  vety  drift  of  the  apostle's  words,  but  as  he  can  bring 
no  argument  but  the  conviction  of  his  own  mind  or  that 
of  other  men,  to  affect  the  credence  of  another,  he 
ought  not  to  deem  it  surprising  if  he  does  not  succeed 
in  gaining  his  assent  to  an  opinion  which  cannot  be 
proved  to  be  true.  All  that  can  be  said  of  it  is,  that 
while  on  the  one  hand  it  cannot  be  shown  to  be  true,  on 
the  other  it  cannot  be  proved  to  be  false. 

But  even  admitting  the  justness  of  the  millennarian 
construction  of  this  passage,  it  still  leaves  the  main  point 
as  unsettled  as  before ;  viz.  the  identity  of  the  seventh 
millennary  of  the  world  with  the  millennium  of  John  in 
the  Apocalypse.  This  is  a  point  which  all  the  writers 
of  the  millennarian  school  have  uniformly  taken  for 
granted  without  requiring  or  advancing  the  least  shadow 
of  proof.  In  this  respect  therefore  the  whole  theory 
labors  under  a  radical,  and  we  fear  a  fatal,  defect  of 
evidence.     But  w'e  proceed  to  state  the  opinions 

II.  Of  those  who  deny  the  personal,  hut  maintain  the 
spiritual,  reign  of  Christ  on  earthy  for  the  period  of  a 
thousand  years. 

Chihasts,  or  Millennarians,  is  a  name  which,  from  an 
early  period,  has  been  bestowed  upon  such  as  have 
been  looking  for  a  seventh  millennium,  in  which  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  should  personally  appear  and  reign 
with  his  people  on  earth.  But  others  also,  not  so  de- 
nominated, have  expected,  and  do  expect,  a  spiritual 
reign  on  earth  for  a  thousand  years.  This  class  em- 
braces a  large  majority  of  the  Christian  world  at  the 
present  day.  They  agree  with  the  former  for  the  most 
part  in  regard  to  the  time  of  the  millennium,  but  differ 
G 


70  TREATISE  ON 

essentially  in  their  views  of  its  character.  They  declare 
themselves  with  equal  confidence  as  to  the  fact  of  this 
happy  period  being  yet  future.  *'  Nothing,"  says  Bishop 
Newton,  "  is  more  evident  than  that  this  prophecy  of 
the  millennium  and  of  the  first  resurrection  hath  not  yet 
been  fulfilled,  even  though  the  resurrection  be  taken 
in  a  figurative  sense."  Dr.  Bogue  expresses  himself 
thus  : — "  Why  spend  a  moment  to  prove  that  the  mil- 
lennium does  not  now  exist,  and  from  the  representation 
which  has  been  given  of  the  past  periods  of  the  church, 
has  not  yet  commenced  its  joyful  course  ?  Prophecy 
confirms  this  reasoning,  for  it  describes  the  millennium 
as  reserved  for  the  last  days  (quere,  where  1)  to  form 
the  graceful  close  of  the  divine  dispensations  to  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Redeemer."  As  far  therefore  as  the 
millennarians  in  fixing  upon  the  seventh  chiliad  as  the 
sabbatism  of  the  world,  are,  as  Jerome  terms  them,  the 
*  heirs  of  a  Jewish  tradition,'  the  advocates  of  the  other 
opinion  are  entitled  to  a  share  in  the  Rabbinical  legacy. 
For  ourselves,  we  deem  them  both,  in  this  respect,  to  be 
equally  in  error ;  but  before  attempting  to  prove  them  so, 
we  shall  lay  before  the  reader  some  fair  specimens  of 
their  opinions. 

The  first  is  that  of  Whitby. 

**  Having  thus  given  you  a  just  account  of  the  millen- 
nium of  the  ancients,  and  of  the  true  extent  of  that  opin- 
ion in  the  primitive  ages  of  the  church ;  I  proceed  now 
to  shew  in  what  things  I  agree  with  the  assertors  of  that 
doctrine,  and  how  far  1  find  myself  constrained,  by  the 
force  of  truth,  to  diflfer  from  them. 
,    I  believe,  then,  that  after  the  fall  of  Antichrist  there 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  71 

shall  be  such  a  glorious  state  of  the  church,  by  the  con- 
version  of  the  Jews  to  the  Christian  faith,  as  shall  be  to 
it  life  from  the  dead  ;  that  it  shall  then  flourish  in  peace 
and  plenty,  in  righteousness  and  holiness,  and  in  a  pious 
offspring;  that  then  shall  begin  a  glorious  and  undis- 
turbed reign  of  Christ  over  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  to 
continue  a  thousand  years  during  the  time  of  Satan's 
binding;  and  that  as  John  the  Baptist  was  Elias,  because 
he  came  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias ;  so  shall  this 
be  the  church  of  martyrs,  and  of  those  who  had  not 
received  the  mark  of  the  Beast,  because  of  their  entire 
freedom  from  all  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  anti- 
christian  church,  and  because  the  spirit  and  purity  of 
the  times  of  the  primitive  martyrs  shall  return.  And 
therefore, 

1.  I  agree  with  the  patrons  of  the  millennium  in  this, 
That  I  believe  Satan  hath  not  yet  been  bound  a  thousand 
years,  nor  will  he  be  so  bound  till  the  time  of  the  calling 
of  the  Jews,  and  the  time  of  St.  John's  millennium. 

2.  I  agree  with  them  in  this.  That  the  true  millen- 
nium will  not  begin  till  the  fall  of  Antichrist ;  nor  will 
the  Jews  be  converted,  the  idolatry  of  the  Roman  church 
being  one  great  obstacle  of  their  conversion. 

3.  I  agree  both  with  the  modern  and  the  ancient  mil- 
lennaries,  That  there  shall  be  great  peace  and  plenty, 
and  great  measures  of  knowledge  and  of  righteousness 
in  the  whole  church  of  God. 

I  therefore  only  differ  from  the  ancient  millennaries 
in  three  things  ; 

1.  In  denying  Christ's  personal  reign  upon  earth  dur- 


72  TREATISE  ON 

ing  this  thousand  years ;  and  in  this  both  Dr.  Burnet  an^ 
Mr.  Mede  expressly  have  renounced  their  doctrine.* 

2.  Though  I  dare  not  absolutely  deny  what  they  all 
positively  affirm,  that  the  city  of  Jerusalem  shall  be  then 
rebuilt,  and  the  converted  Jews  shall  return  to  it,  because 
this  probably  may  be  collected  from  those  words  of 
Christ,  '  Jerusalem  shall  be  trodden  down  till  the  time 
of  the  Gentiles  is  come,'  Luke  21.  24,  and  all  the 
prophets  seem  to  declare  the  Jews  shall  then  return  to 
their  own  land,  Jer.  31.  38-40,  yet  do  I  confidently 
deny  what  Barnabas  and  others  of  them  do  contend  for, 
viz.  that  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  shall  be  then  built 
again ;  for  this  is  contrary  not  only  to  the  plain  declara- 
tion of  St.  John,  who  saith,  '  I  saw  no  temple  in  this 
New  Jerusalem,'  Rev.  21.  22,  whence  I  infer  there  is 
to  be  no  temple  in  any  part  of  it ;  but  to  the  whole  de- 
sign of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  which  is  to  shew  the 
dissolution  of  the  temple  service,  for  the  weakness  and 
unprofitableness  of  it ;  (and)  that  the  Jewish  tabernacle 
w^s  only  a  figure  of  the  true  and  '  more  perfect  taber- 
nacle which  the  Lord  pitched,  and  not  man ;'  the  Jewish 
sanctuary  only  a  worldly  sanctuary,  a  pattern  and  a 
figure  of  the  heavenly  one  into  which  Christ  our  high 
priest  is  entered,  Heb.  8.  2,-9.  2, — 11.  23,  24.  Now 
such  a  temple,  such  a  sanctuary,  and  such  service,  can- 
not be  suitable  to  the  most  glorious  and  splendid  times 
of  the  Christian  church  ;  and  therefore  the  apostle  saith, 


*  This  may  be  questioned.     These  writers  have  modified  thft 
ereed  of  the  ancients  on  this  subject,  without  renouncing  it. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  73 

*The  Lord  God  omnipotent,  and  the  Lamb,  shall  be 
their  temple.' 

3.  I  differ  both  from  the  ancient  and  the  modern  mil- 
lennaries,  as  far  as  they  assert  that  this  shall"  be  a  reign 
of  such  Christians  as  have  suffered  under  the  heathen 
persecutors ;  or  by  the  rage  of  Antichrist ;  (I)  making  it 
only  a  reign  of  the  converted  Jews  and  of  the  Gentiles 
then  flowing  into  them,  and  uniting  into  one  church 
with  them.  This  I  believe  to  be  indeed  the  truth  of 
this  mistaken  doctrine." — Whitby's  Treatise  on  the 
True  Millennium^  p.  9,  10. 

Thus  speaks  Dr.  Bogue. 

"  Having  noticed  these  erroneous  views  of  the  doc- 
trine, allow  me  to  mention,  in  a  few  words,  what  I  con- 
ceive to  be  the  Millennium  of  the  Christian  Church, — 
which  God  has  graciously  revealed  by  his  servants  the 
Prophets.  It  appears,  then,  that  there  will  be  far  more 
eminent  measures  of  divine  knowledge ;  of  holiness  of 
heart  and  life ;  and  of  spiritual  consolation  and  joy,  in 
the  souls  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  than  the  world  has 
yet  seen :  and  these  will  not  be  the  attainments  of  a  few 
Christians,  but  of  the  general  mass.  This  delightful 
internal  state  of  the  Church  will  be  accompanied  with 
such  a  portion  of  external  prosperity  and  peace,  and 
abundance  of  all  temporal  blessings,  as  men  never  knew 
before.  The  boundaries  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  will 
be  extended  from  the  rising  to  the  going  down  of  the 
sun ;  and  Antichristianism,  Deism,  Mahometanism,  Pa- 
ganism, and  Judaism,  shall  all  be  destroyed  and  give 
place  to  the  Redeemer's  throne.  By  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  and  the  zeal  of 
G3 


74  TREATISE    or* 

Christians  in  every  station ;  by  the  judgments  of  heaven 
on  the  children  of  men  for  their  iniquities  ;  above  all,  by 
the  mighty  efficacy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  will  the  glory 
of  the  latter  days  be  brought  about.  Religion  will  then 
be  the  grand  business  of  mankind.  The  generality  will 
be  truly  pious ;  and  those  who  are  not  will  be  incon- 
siderable in  number,  and  most  probably  be  anxious  to 
conceal  their  real  character  ;  and  their  sentiments  and 
practice  have  no  real  weight  or  influence  on  the  public 
mind.  The  earnest  desire  which  every  pious  soul  must 
feel  for  the  long  continuance  of  this  glory,  will  be  grat- 
ified to  hear,  that  the  time  mentioned  in  prophetic  lan- 
guage, as  the  period  of  its  duration,  is  a  thousand  years. 
Such  I  believe  to  be  the  doctrine  of  the  Millennium." — 
Bogues  J}isc.  on  the  Millen.  p.  18. 

"  By  the  millennium,  I  do  not  understand  such  a  state 
as  accords  to  any  of  the  many  superstitious  and  enthu- 
siastic descriptions  of  the  renovation  of  the  earth  after 
the  general  conflagration,  of  the  first  resurrection  of  the 
bodies  of  the  saints  to  live  again  for  a  thousand  years 
upon  that  renovated  earth,  and  of  the  personal  reign  of 
Christ  for  a  thousand  years  on  earth  ;  which  have  been 
published  to  the  world  even  by  men  of  considerable  note. 
These  conjectures  I  reject,  because  there  is  no  founda- 
tion for  them  in  scripture  ;  and  they  are  highly  unrea- 
sonable and  improbable  in  themselves,  so  far  as  we  are 
capable  of  judging  on  such  a  subject.  But  by  the  mil>- 
lennium  I  understand  a  triumphant  state  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  or  true  religion  of  Jesus  on  earth  for  a  thousand 
years.  This  kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness,  truth, 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.     This  kingdom,  corsr 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  75 

sisting  of  these  four  constituent  parts,  shall  be  in  a 
triumphant  state  during  the  whole  millennium.  Then 
mankind  shall  in  a  very  high  degree  be  freed  from 
ignorance  and  error ;  shall  love,  study,  and  know  the 
truth  on  every  subject  in  which  they  have  any  concern, 
and  especially  on  the  subject  of  religion.  Universal 
righteousness  shall  prevail.  They  shall  pay  that  regard 
to  the  perfect  and  meritorious  righteousness  of  Christ, 
which  accords  to  truth,  to  the  perfection  of  the  divine 
law,  to  the  infinitude  of  divine  justice,  to  its  own  perfec- 
tion, to  their  need  of  it,  and  to  the  gracious  purpose  of 
God  in  sending  Christ  into  this  world  to  fulfil  all  right- 
eousness. They  shall  love  and  practise  righteousness 
to  God,  to  their  brethren  of  mankind,  to  all  the  creatures 
of  God  with  whom  they  have  intercourse,  and  to  them- 
selves, in  all  its  branches  :  and  they  shall  make  perpetual 
progress  in  truth  and  righteousness.  Universal  peace 
shall  prevail  on'  the  earth.  Men,  as  individuals,  shall 
enjoy  peace  with  God,  and  peace  of  conscience  ;  as  con- 
nected in  society,  they  shall  live  in  peace  with  their 
neighbors,  whether  in  smaller  or  larger  societies.  Pri- 
vate quarrels  and  public  wars  shall  cease  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth.  The  brute  creation,  treated  with  gentleness 
by  men,  shall  become  much  more  gentle  and  harmless 
to  them  and  to  one  another  than  they  are  now.  Uni- 
versal joy  shall  abound.  That  joy  which  is  pure  and 
exalted  happiness,  that  joy  which  is  congenial  to  a  mind 
renewed  and  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Not  only 
shall  all  public  affairs  be  conducted  with  prosperity  and 
joy,  but  individuals  also  shall  be  happy.  They  shall 
be  blessed  with  that  joy,  which  is  inseparable  from  high 


76  TREATISE    ON 

attainments  in  truth,  righteousness,  and  peace.  Such, 
in  a  certain  degree,  shall  be  the  situation  of  the  whole 
world  during  these  thousand  years  ;  and  in  a  very  high 
degree  of  every  part  of  it,  except  that  styled  Gog  and 
Magog." — Johnston  on  the  Rev.  vol.  ii.  p.  310,  311. 

As  our  views  upon  the  whole  subject  of  the  millen- 
nium will  be  given  in  full  in  the  sequel,  it  will  be  unne- 
cessary to  anticipate  here  the  remarks  which  we  should 
otherwise  have  to  offer  upon  these  quotations.  Error 
is  more  effectually  subverted  by  the  establishment  of 
truth.  The  light  in  which  we  view  them  will  disclose 
itself  as  we  advance.  We  are  now  prepared  to  enter 
upon  the  direct  consideration  of  the  subject. 


THE    MILLENNIUM. 


77 


CHAPTER  III. 

EXPLICATION  OF  THE  SYMBOL  OF  THE  DRAGON- 

The  Binding  of  Satan  or  the  Dragon  the  main  feature  of  the 
anticipated  Millennium — Necessary  to  determine  the  Import 
of  this  Symbolical  Action — This  cannot  be  done  without 
first  fixing  the  import  of  the  Dragon  himself  as  a  Symbol — 
With  this  view  the  Vision  of  the  Dragon,  Rev.  xii.,  minutely 
considered — The  sun-clad  and  star-crowned  Woman  ex- 
plained— The  Dragon  shown  to  be  a  symbol  of  Pagaaiism — 
The  War  between  Michael  and  the  Dragon  explained — The 
remaining  Circumstances  of  the  Vision  explained — Objections 
answered — Reflections, 

The  grand  characteristic  of  the  Millennium  described 
by  John  is  the  binding  of  Satan  or  the  Dragon.  "  And 
I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from  heaven,  having  the  key 
of  the  bottomless  pit  and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand. 
And  he  laid  hold  on  the  Dragon,  that  old  serpent,  which 
is  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand 
years."  Now  as  the  whole  book  of  the  Apocalypse  is 
marked  by  a  sustained  unity  of  character,  imparting  its 
revelations  not  in  literal  but  in  figurative  language,  this 
is  to  be  regarded  as  a  symbolical  action,  forming  a  part 
of  the  tissue  of  visionary  scenery  running  through  the 
book,  every  portion  of  which  is  to  be  interpreted  in  con- 
sistency with  the  structure  of  the  whole.  In  this  sense, 
that  may  be  said  with  peculiar  propriety  of  the  Revela- 


78  TREATISE   ON 

tion  of  John  which  is  elsewhere  said  of  the  whole 
Scriptures,  that  no  prophecy  is  of  any  private  interpre- 
tation ;  i.  e.  no  prophecy  is  of  an  isolated  interpreta- 
tion ;  but  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  constituent  portion  of  a 
general  system  of  prophecy,  and  therefore  unsuscepti- 
ble of  a  just  and  genuine  interpretation  when  viewed 
apart  from  its  peculiar  relations  and  dependencies.  If, 
then,  we  would  establish  the  exposition  of  the  scriptural 
doctrine  of  the  Millennium  upon  its  legitimate  basis,  it 
is  indispensably  requisite  that  the  import  of  this  sym- 
bolical action,  the  binding  of  Satan,  should  be  deter- 
mined in  the  outset.  But  how  can  this  be  ascertained 
without  fixing  in  the  first  instance  the  hieroglyphical 
significancy  of  Satan  or  the  Dragon  himself?  Here,  if 
we  mistake  not,  has  lain  the  prime  and  radical  error  of 
nearly  all  commentators  upon  the  Apocalypse,  and  of 
most  of  the  modern  advocates  of  a  future  Millennium* 
They  have  understood  this  title  in  its  literal  sense,  as 
the  designation  of  the  prince  of  evil  spirits  acting  ex- 
clusively in  his  appropriate  character  of  spiritual  agent, 
tempting  and  inciting  the  minds  of  men  to  sin.  But  as 
Satan  in  this  connexion  is  indubitably  identified  with  the 
Dragon  of  a  former  vision,  and  as  the  Dragon,  from  his 
being  represented  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and 
from  the  other  peculiar  attributes  ascribed  to  him,  must 
stand  as  the  hieroglyphical  representative  of  some  sub- 
tantial  persecuting  power,  it  is  obvious  that  the  epithet 
Satan  or  Devil,  in  its  prophetic  bearings,  must  point  to 
something  else  than  a  mere  disastrous  influence  putting 
itself  forth  upon  the  sentient  spirits  of  men. 

To  the  task  therefore  of  determining,  according  to  the 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  79 

principles  of  symbolic  interpretation,  the  legitimate  scope 
of  this  emblem,  we  now  address  om-selves ;  a  pur- 
pose in  the  prosecution  of  which  it  will  be  necessary  to 
enter  into  a  minute  and  critical  analysis  of  other  pas- 
sages in  the  book  where  the  mention  of  this  ill-omened 
personage  occurs.  In  this  mode  of  conducting  the  en- 
quiry we  shall  in  fa.ct  embrace  a  connected  history  of 
the  Dragon  in  his  successive  prophetical  developments, 
tracing  him  through  the  three  grand  stages  of  his  mani- 
festation ;  in  which  he  appears,  (1.)  as  holding  a  pre- 
eminence in  the  Apocalyptic  heaven ;  (2.)  as  cast  down 
from  thence  to  the  earth  ;  (3.)  as  degraded  from  the 
surface  of  the  earth  to  a  place  of  confinement  in  its  sub- 
terranean abysses. 

As  he  is  first  ushered  to  view  in  the  twelfth  chap- 
ter of  the  Revelation,  we  shall  commence  our  invest!-, 
gation  with  a  detailed  exposition  of  that  part  of  the 
book,  the  results  of  which  will  be  subsequently  applied 
to  the  elucidation  of  the  twentieth,  as  it  is  upon  the 
right  interpretation  of  the  twentieth  that  the  whole  doc- 
trine of  the  Millennium  hinges.  Our  enquiry  may  con- 
duct us  over  a  pretty  wide  field  of  research,  but  we 
flatter  ourselves  that  the  reader  will  find  enough  on  the 
way  of  curious  and  rare  to  reward  the  toil  of  travel. 

REVELATION,  CHAP.  XII. 

1.  And  there  appeared  a  great  wonder  In  heaven  ;  a 
woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  her 
feet,  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars :  2. 
And  she,  being  with  child,  cried,  travailing  in  birth,  and 


80  tREATISE    01^ 

pained  to  be  delivered.  3.  And  there  appeared  another 
wonder  in  heaven  ;  and  behold  a  great  red  dragon,  hav- 
ing seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and  seven  crowns  upon 
his  heads.  4.  And  his  tail  drew  the  third  part  of  the 
stars  of  heaven,  and  did  cast  them  to  the  earth :  and  the 
dragon  stood  before  the  woman  which  was  ready  to  be 
delivered,  for  to  devour  her  child  as  soon  as  it  was  born. 
5.  And  she  brought  forth  a  man  child,  who  was  to  rule 
all  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron  :  and  her  child  was  caught 
up  unto  God,  and  to  his  throne.  6.  And  the  woman 
fled  into  the  wilderness,  where  she  hath  a  place  pre- 
pared of  God,  that  they  should  feed  her  there  a  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  threescore  days.  7.  And  there 
was  war  in  heaven  :  Michael  and  his  angels  fought 
against  the  dragon  :  and  the  dragon  fought  and  his  an- 
gels, 8.  And  prevailed  not ;  neither  was  their  place 
found  any  more  in  heaven.  9.  And  the  great  dragon 
was  cast  out,  that  old  serpent,  called  the  Devil,  and  Sa- 
tan, which  deceiveth  the  whole  world  ;  he  was  cast  out 
into  the  earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  out  with  him. 
10.  And  I  heard  a  loud  voice  saying  in  heaven,  Now  is 
come  salvation  and  strength,  and  the  kingdom  of  our 
God,  and  the  power  of  his  Christ :  for  the  accuser  of 
our  brethren  is  cast  down,  which  accused  them  before 
our  God  day  and  night.  11.  And  they  overcame  him 
by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their  tes- 
timony ;  and  they  loved  not  their  lives  unto  the  death. 
12.  Therefore  rejoice,  ye  heavens,  and  ye  that  dwell  in 
them.  Woe  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  and  of  the 
sea,  for  the  devil  is  come  down  unto  you,  having  great 
wrath,  because  he  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  81 

time.  13.  And  when  the  dragon  saw  that  he  was  cast 
unto  the  earth,  he  persecuted  the  woman  which  brought 
forth  the  man  child.  14.  And  to  the  woman  were  given 
two  wings  of  a  great  eagle,  that  she  might  fly  into  the 
wilderness  into  her  place,  where  she  is  nourished  for  a 
time,  and  times,  and  half  a  time,  from  the  face  of  the 
serpent.  15.  And  the  serpent  cast  out  of  his  mouth 
water  as  a  flood  after  the  woman,  that  he  might  cause 
her  to  be  carried  away  of  the  flood.  16.  And  the  earth 
helped  the  woman,  and  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and 
swallowed  up  the  flood  which  the  dragon  cast  out  of  his 
mouth.  17.  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with  the  woman, 
and  went  to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seed, 
which  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  have  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  book  of  Revelation  is  eminently  peculiar  and 
unique  in  its  structure.  The  true  order  of  the  great 
chain  of  events  predicted  in  it  is  not  to  be  determined 
by  the  recorded  order  of  the  visions  in  which  they  are 
shadowed  forth.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  not  unfrequently 
the  case,  that  one,  two,  or  three  chapters  are  occupied 
with  the  visionary  representation  of  a  train  of  aflTairs 
extending  over  a  given  period  of  time,  and  terminating 
at  a  particular  epoch,  while  the  chapter  immediately 
subsequent,  taking  up  another  order  of  occurrences,  re- 
mounts to  a  period  of  antiquity  equally  remote  with  the 
preceding,  and,  with  a  different  object  in  view,  conducts 
us  over  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same,  chronological  era. 
A  vision,  therefore,  at  the  beginning  of  the  book,  may 
point  to  an  event  occurring  in  the  last  ages  of  time, 
H 


82  TREATISE    ON 

while  one  at  the  close  of  the  volume  may  remand  us 
back  for  its  fulfilment  to  the  primitive  periods  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  grand  canon  of  Apocalyptic  interpretation, 
originally  laid  down  by  Mede,  and  since  adopted  by  all 
the  best  commentators,  is  this  : — That  the  order  of  the 
-visions  is  to  be  determined,  irrespective  of  any  previous 
hypothesis,  wholly  and  solely  by  the  intrinsic  characr 
ters  of  the  visions  themselves,  a  careful  study  of  which 
will  enable  one  to  distinguish  with  more  or  less  preci- 
sion those  which  synchronize  from  those  which  do  not. 
This  has  been  termed  the  principle  of  '  abstract  syn- 
chronization,' and  certainly  affords  a  clew  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  those  who  are  prompted  to  thread  the 
mazes  of  the  Apocalyptic  labyrinth.  Governed  by  this 
principle,  the  eminent  expositor  above  mentioned  has  oc- 
cupied a  considerable  portion  of  his  Clavis  Apocalyp' 
tica  with  the  independent  harmonical  sorting  and  ar- 
ranging of  the  various  predictions  of  the  Revelation 
which  are  chronologically  connected  with  each  other. 
In  this  he  has  performed  an  invaluable  service  to  the 
cause  of  prophetical  interpretation.  It  may  be  doubted, 
indeed,  whether  he  has  been  uniformly  correct  in  the 
particular  applications  of  his  principle,  but  as  to  the 
soundness  of  the  principle  itself  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion. 

On  the  ground,  therefore,  of  this  admitted  law  of  ex- 
position, we  remark,  that  the  chapter  before  us  intro- 
duces a  vision  entirely  distinct  from  all  that  has  pre- 
ceded. Its  connexion  with  the  foregoing  chapter,  which 
is  at  first  view  by  no  means  obvious,  may  be  stated 
thus  : — The  closing  verses  of  that  chapter  contain  the 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  83 

account  of  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  the  ve- 
hicle of  the  third  woe,  which,  while  it  announces  the 
passing  over  of  the   regency  of  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  from  the  hands  of  their  former  despotic  and  secu- 
lar rulers  into  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ,  their  riglitful, 
all-competent,    and   spiritual  sovereign,   proclaims  also 
the  coming  of  a  time  of  wrath  upon  the  angry  nations, 
who  had  hitherto  obstructed  and  still  continued  to  resist 
the   Savior's   assumption  of  his  legitimate  supremacy. 
It  was  now  the  time  of  judgment,  when  they  were  to  be 
destroyed  who  had  themselves  destroyed  or  corrupted 
the  earth.     But  as  yet  no  exact  specification  had  been 
given  of  the  body  of  men  upon  whom  the   desolating 
woe  of  the  seventh  trumpet  was  destined  to  fall.     It  is 
plain  indeed,  from  a  subsequent  part  of  the  book,  that  the 
subjects  of  this  woe  were  to  exist  in  the  form  of  the 
community  symbolically  denominated  the  Beast.     As 
the  Beast,  however,  was  a  power  which  was  to  act   a 
very  prominent  and  conspicuous  part  in  the  prophetic 
drama,  it  was  peculiarly  fitting  that  the  spirit  of  inspira- 
tion should  in  this  matter  assume  the  province  of  the 
historian,  and  give  us  a  brief  but  comprehensive  sketch 
of  the  origin,  rise,  progress,  career,  and  catastrophe  of 
this  mystic  monster.     This   accordingly  is  done  in  the 
series  of  chapters  extending  from  the  thirteenth  to  the 
nineteenth  inclusive.     But  the  Beast  of  the  Apocalypse 
was  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  Dragon  ;  it  was  neces- 
sary, therefore,  in  order  to  the  tracing  of  the  symbolical 
pedigree  of  the  Beast,  that  the  narrative  should  com- 
mence with  the  history  of  the  Dragon,  his  predecessorj 
who  *  gave  him  his  power,  his  seat,  and  great  authority .' 


84  TREATISE    ON 

It  is  for  this  end,  accordingly,  that  the  vision  of  the 
Beast  is  prefaced  with  that  of  the  Dragon.  The  one 
would  be  incomplete  without  the  other.  This  view  of 
the  subject,  which  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  pre- 
ceding expositors,  will  be  found,  if  we  mistake  not,  of 
the  utmost  importance  in  unravelling  the  enigmas  of  the 
Revelation.  We  are  persuaded,  at  least,  that  in  the  ex- 
plication of  the  doctrine  of  the  Millennium,  no  scheme 
can  be  well  founded  which  entirely  disregards  it. 

The  prophet,  in  the  course  of  the  supernatural  reve- 
lations vouchsafed  to  him  in  his  banishment,  beholds  a 
woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  having  the  moon  under  her 
feet,  and  her  head  adorned  with  a  diadem  or  coronet  of 
twelve  stars.  This  symbolical  woman  is  represented  to 
the  entranced  eye  of  the  Seer  as  upon  the  eve  of  giving 
birth  to  a  man-child,  who  was  to  enter  upon  a  predes- 
tined state  of  authority,  in  which  he  should  rule  all  na- 
tions with  a  rod  of  iron  ;  a  badge  of  dominion  betoken- 
ing not  so  much  the  severity,  as  the  firmness  and 
strength  of  his  universal  government.  At  this  perilous 
juncture,  in  immediate  juxtaposition  with  the  parturient 
woman,  the  Prophet  beholds  '  a  great  red  dragon,'  dis- 
tinguished by  seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  while  each  of 
the  heads  was  surmounted  with  a  kingly  crown.  "  And 
he  stood  before  the  woman  for  to  devour  her  child  as 
soon  as  it  should  be  born."  The  child  however  escapes 
the  rapacious  jaws  of  the  monster.  Instead  of  becom- 
ing the  victim,  he  becomes  the  victor,  of  the  destroyer  ; 
for  being,  by  divine  interposition,  caught  up  to  the  throne 
of  God,  he  there,  under  the  appellation  of '  Michael,'  be- 
gins a  war  against  the  Dragon  and  his  angels,  which  is 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  &5 

finally  terminated  by  the  utter  discomfiture  of  the  latter, 
and  his  dejection,  with  all  his  warring  legions,  from  the 
ascendancy  which  he  had  hitherto  possessed.  Upon 
this  a  triumphal  song  is  sung  on  high — lofty-  paeans  of 
praise  and  gratulation  resound  through  the  heavenly  re- 
gions— and  the  mutual  felicitations  of  the  victors  are 
mingled  with  devout  ascriptions  to  that  Almighty  Power 
through  which  their  conquest  had  been  achieved. 

Such  are  the  outlines  of  this  significant  phantasm  re- 
plete with  a  fulness  of  inspired  import.  We  have  here 
the  sacred  hieroglyphic,  couching  under  it  a  meaning  in- 
finitely more  momentous  than  the  mystic  chroniclings  of 
the  monuments  of  Egypt ;  and  the  task  now  remains  of 
endeavouring  to  translate  from  the  pictorial  to  the  verbal 
language  the  burden  of  the  Prophet's  symbols. 

And  first  of  the  Woman.  "  A  woman  clothed  with 
the  sun,"  <fec.  Throughout  all  antiquity,  both  sacred 
and  profane,  ther^  is  no  symbol  more  frequent  or  fami- 
liar than  that  by  which  a  female  is  employed  to  represent 
a  community^  Cities  are  often  thus  depicted  upon  the 
medals,  coins,  and  inscriptions,  which  have  come  down 
to  us  from  antiquity,  and  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable, 
that  in  an  ancient  coin  commemorative  of  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity,  the  nation  of  Israel  is  represented  by  a 
female  sitting  under  a  palm-tree  overwhelmed  in  tears. 
The  phraseology,  moreover,  in  which  the  Jewish  church 
is  denominated  '  the  virgin  daughter  of  Zion,'  '  the 
daughter  of  Jerusalem,'  &;c.  i«  familiar  to  every  reader 
of  the  scriptures.  The  ecclesiastical  community  of 
that  people  is  called  by  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  a  '  bride ;' 
and  Ezek..  ch.  16.  contains  an  extended  allegory,  in 
H2 


86  TREATISE    ON 

which  the  Jewish  church  is  represented  under  the  figure 
of  a  female  advancing  through  the  periods  of  childhood 
and  youth  to  the  age  and  stature  of  a  woman.  So 
when  the  Israelites  were  guilty  of  idolatry,  the  nation 
is  spoken  of  collectively  as  an  adulteress  or  harlot. 
The  same  kind  of  diction  prevails  in  those  passages 
which  are  prophetical  of  the  Christian  church.  In  Ps. 
45.  10-17,  she  is  spoken  of  as  a  bride,  and  the  scene 
of  her  nuptials  minutely  described;  while  the  entire 
book  of  the  Canticles  is  nothing  but  a  continued  alle- 
gory shadowing  forth  the  mystical  union  between  Christ 
and  the  church,  his  spiritual  spouse.  fBimilar  allusions 
occur  in  the  New  Testament.  Paul,  in  2  Cor.  11.  2, 
says,  "  I  have  espoused  you  to  one  husband,  that  I  may 
present  you  as  a  chaste  virgin  to  Christ."  And  in  the 
subsequent  parts  of  this  book,  the  Christian  church  is 
exhibited  under  the  same  emblem  where  the  marriage 
of  the  Lamb  is  spoken  of.  The  false  church  also  is 
adumbrated  by  the  image  of  a  woman  clothed  in  purple 
and  scarlet,  and  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  saints, 
Rev.  ch.  17.  where  the  force  of  the  symbol,  as  pointing 
to  a  body  politic,  is  expressly  defined  by  the  interpreting 
angel ; — "  And  the  woman  which  thou  sawest  is  that 
great  city  which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth  V^ 
'  City'  here  is  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  commu- 
nity.  In  like  manner,  other  communities  or  polities 
beside  those  which  are  sacred  are  denominated  by  the 
same  symbolical  term.  In  Isaiah  47.  1,  for  instance, 
the  city  or  kingdom  of  Babylon  is  thus  apostrophized  : 
"  Come  down,  and  sit  in  the  dust,  O  virgin  daughter  of 
Babylon ;"  explained  in  the  Targum  by  *  Regnum  con- 


THE    MILLENNIU3I.  87 

gregationis  Bshylonix,^— -kingdom  of  the  Babylonian 
congregation  ;  called  'daughter  of  Babylon,'  in  the  same 
manner  as  Homer  has  Trccihi  A;^ia/<yy — vie^  Ajcof-K^'^i  chil- 
dren of  the  Greeks — sons  of  the  Greeks,  for  Greeks 
simply.  We  may  set  it  down,  therefore,  as  a  conceded 
point  of  interpretation,  that  the  Woman  in  this  passage 
is  the  representative  of  a  community,  a  multitudinous 
body  of  men.  This  however  is  advancing  but  a  single 
step  in  our  inquiry.  The  next  point  is  to  identify  this 
mystic  personage,  or  to  determine  the  specific  community 
of  which  she  is  the  type.  In  doing  this  we  are  forced, 
after  much  deliberation,  to  remount  to  a  period  no  less 
distant  than  the  transaction  in  Eden.  There,  it  will  be 
recollected,  it  was  announced,  as  the  proto-promise  of 
evangelic  mercy,  to  our  lapsed  maternal  progenitor,  that 
a  perpetuated  enmity  should  subsist  between  her  (spirit- 
ual) seed  and  the  seed  of  the  serpent.  The  issue, 
moreover,  of  this*  protracted  feud  it  was  declared  should 
be  the  bruising  of  the  head  of  the  serpent  by  the  seed 
of  the  woman.  Now  it  is  evident,  that,  although  in  the 
phrase  '  seed  of  the  woman,'  a  special  reference  is  had 
to  the  Messiah,  to  whom  the  title  emphatically  pertains, 
yet  it  is  in  effect  but  another  name  for  a  line  of  descend- 
ants of  peculiar  character,  contradistinguished  from  the 
remnant  of  her  natural  progeny  styled  the  '  seed  of  the 
serpent.'  For  in  the  sense  of  physical  derivation  it  is 
plain  that  the  '  seed  of  the  serpent'  is  as  truly  the  seed 
of  the  woman  as  those  who  are  by  way  of  eminence 
expressly  so  called.  Suppose  now  it  were  the  object  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  to  select  an  appropriate  symbol  or 
hieroglyphic,  by  which  to   adumbrate  this  collective,. 


88  TREATISE    ON 

successive^  progressive  body,  as  it  gradually  evolved 
itself  through  a  series  of  ages,  should  we  not  say  that 
that  of  a  '  woman'  was  peculiarly  suited  to  the  purpose  1 
— especially  when  it  is  considered,  that  the  Omniscient 
Spirit  foresaw  that  the  ransomed  portion  of  human  kind 
were  to  sustain  to  their  divine  Ransomer  the  conjugal 
relation?  If  this  be  conceded,  if  it  be  admitted  that 
the  'woman'  of  this  vision  is  but  a  collective  designation 
of  the  spiritual  seed  of  Eve,r  it  will  obviously  follow, 
that  the  predicted  line  of  the  woman's  seed  is  to  be 
traced  in  the  history  of  the  Jewish  church.  The  true 
church  of  God^  therefore^  as  existing  in  the  nation  of 
Israel^  is  the  sun-clad  woman  (f  the  Apocalypse.  We 
do  not  say  that  the  Jewish  nation  as  such  constitutes 
the  substance  of  this  prophetical  shadow,  but  the  true 
church,  as  embodied  in  that  nation,  and  which  by  conti- 
nuity of  being  under  a  change  of  form  passed  into  the 
Christian  church  under  the  new  economy.  For  we  find 
this  woman,  long  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Jewish 
state,  represented  as  flying  into,  the  wilderness,  and 
there  subsisting  for  the  space  of  1260  years,  which  is 
undoubtedly  to  be  understood  not  of  the  Israelitish 
nation,  but  of  the  church  of  Christ.  The  object  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  however,  in  this  part  of  the  vision,  was  to, 
portray  the  true  church  in  a  form  adapted  to  its  ante- 
Christian  state,  and  the  imagery  has  therefore  mainly  a 
Jewish  aspect.  Guided  by  this  clew,  the  solution  of  tha 
symbols  is  not  diflicult.  In  the  possession  of  the  sun- 
light of  revelation  during  every  period  of  her  ecclesias- 
tical existence,  we  see  what  is  implied  in  the  radiant 
investment  of  solar  glory  in  which  she  shone  fortlu  ti 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  89 

the  twelve  patriarchs  of  the  old  dispensation,  to  which 
the  twelve  apostles  of  the  new  corresponded,  we  see 
the  crown  of  twelve  stars  adorning  her  reverend  brows. 
In  the  subserviency  of  the  moon  to  the  uses  of  the 
Jewish  church,  in  regulating  the  fasts,  feasts,  and  con- 
vocations of  that  primitive  economy,  we  learn  the  drift 
of  the  emblem,  '  the  moon  under  her  feet,'  a  station  in- 
dicative not  of  degradation^  but  of  ministry  ;  as  a  ser- 
vant at  the  feet  of  his  master  is  not  there  to  be  trampled 
upon,  but  to  be  at  his  beck  and  bidding.  While  of  the 
circumstance  of  the  woman's  being  upon  the  eve  of  the 
maternal  relation,  we  have  to  look  for  a  solution  merely 
to  the  fact,  that  through  a  tract  of  ages  the  Jevnsh 
church  was  pregnant  with  the  promise  of  the  Messiah. 
In  the  womb  of  her  faith  and  hope  reposed  for  ages 
the  unborn  'desire  of  nations.'  And  as  the  destined 
mother  anticipates  with  earnest  solicitude  the  natal  hour 
of  her  expected  offspring,  so  did  the  covenant  race  long 
for  the  ushering  into  life  of  their  promised  Lord  and 
King. 

We  have  thus,  we  imagine,  paved  the  way  for  the 
unravelling  of  the  other  portions  of  the  scenery  of  this 
remarkable  vision.  We  have  seen  that  the  Apocalyptic 
Woman  is  a  designed  impersonation  of  a  continuous  line 
or  succession  of  men,  stamped  with  the  seal  of  a  pecu- 
liar character,  and  extending  from  the  primeval  epoch  of 
recovered  grace  down  to  the  period  of  Christ's  nativity. 
And  we  beg  leave  to  remark,  that  this  idea  of  continuity, 
of  progressiveness,  of  gradual  developement,  is  all-im- 
portant to  the  right  explication  of  the  imagery. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  symbol  of  the  Dragon. 


90  TREATISE    OPT 

"  Behold  a  great  red  dragon,  having  seven  heads  and 
ten  horns,"  &;c.     The  fact  which  we  may  consider  as 
established,  that  the  Woman  represents  the  'seed  of 
the  woman,'  will  prepare  us  for  the  assumption,  that  the 
Dragon  or  the  Serpent,  for  these  words  are  used  inter- 
changeably, represents  the  '  seed  of   the  serpent,'  as 
progressively  evolving  itself  in   the  course  of  natural 
generation  and  characteristic  action   from  age  to  age. 
For  the  vision  does  not  contemplate  any  one  particular 
period  of  time,   but  portrays   by  a  stationary  symbol 
a  moving  series  of  events.     Here  then  we  have  vividly 
depicted   before  us,  in  their  appropriate  emblems,  the 
two  great   antagonist  seeds    which  have  divided   the 
family  of  man  from  the  beginning,  ranged  in  direct  hos- 
tility to  each  other,  and  running  in  parallel  lines  of  an- 
tithetic existence  through  the  lapse  of  many  centuries. 
But  the  scope  of  the  vision  is  undoubtedly  designed  to 
represent  the  seed  of  the  serpent  under  a  peculiar  aspect, 
viz.  as  a  persecuting  power.     It  is  important  therefore 
that  our  conceptions  of  it  should  be  still  more  distinct. 
In  a  subsequent  verse,  after  the  account  of  the  battle 
and  its  issue  which  ensued  between  Michael  and  the 
Dragon,  it  is  said,  that  '  the  great  dragon  was  east  out, 
that  old  serpent,  called  the  Devil   and  Satan,    which 
deceiveth  the  whole  world.'     This  affords  an  item  of 
information  of  great   moment.     The  Dragon   is   here 
obviously  identified  with  the  Devil  or  Satan,  so  that  if 
the  one  is,  in  this  book,  an  allegorical  being,  the  other 
is  so  also.     His  titles,  it  will  be  observed,  are  recited 
with  the  utmost  particularity.     As  a  magistrate,  in  mak- 
ing out  a  warrant  for  the  apprehension  of  a  villain  who 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  91 

had  palmed  himself  upon  the  public  by  different  names, 
would  be  careful  to  specify  them  all  by  the  prefix  of  an 
alias^  so  the  Spirit,  in  the  present  instance,  studiously 
specifies  the  various  designations  of  this  grand  adver- 
sary, as  if  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  mistake.  *  The 
great  dragon,  alias  the  old  serpent,  alias  the  Devil, 
alias  Satan ; — by  whatever  appellation  he  may  be  dis- 
tinguished, here  he  is;  you  may  know  him  by  his 
escutcheon.'  Of  the  two  great  belligerent  parties, 
therefore,  which  figured  in  this  world's  history  for  at 
least  4000  years  prior  to  the  Saviour's  advent,  and  who 
are  here  shown  confronting  each  other  in  hostile  array, 
one  we  learn  upon  divine  authority  is  the  Devil.  The 
interesting  inquiry  at  once  arises,  Upon  what  grounds  is 
the  being  denominated  the  Devil  portrayed  in  such  ter- 
rific guise  ?  What  mean  his  seven  heads  crowned  with 
the  badges  of  royalty?  What  is  implied  in  the  circum- 
stance of  his  standing,  with  menacing  rapacity,  intent 
to  devour  the  expected  birth  of  the  woman?  These 
characters  but  ill  accord  with  the  idea  of  a  merely  spi- 
ritual agency  put  forth  upon  the  minds  of  men.  A 
more  substantial  and  palpable  power  of  evil  is  certainly 
represented  by  the  image.  In  attempting  to  solve  the 
mystery  we  observe,  that  if  the  Devil  or  Satan  be  iden- 
tical with  the  Dragon  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  if  the 
Dragon  be  but  a  symbolical  personification  of  the  col- 
lective body  of  the  serpent's  seed,  then  the  Devil  also, 
far  from  being  a  mere  abstraction  or  a  purely  spiritual 
entity,  is  but  the  symbolical  title  of  a  vast  society  of 
wicked  men,  pervaded  and  imbued  by  the  spirit  of  ran- 
corous hate  towards  the  entire  corporation  of  the  right- 


^2  TREATISE    ON 

eous,  and  in  that  form  waging  an  incessant  war  against 
them.  Consequently  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion,  that 
the  foul  and  disastrous  machinations  of  the  Devil,  so  far 
as  he  is  to  be  conceived  of  abstractly  from  the  system 
which  he  actuates,  has  been  in  all  ages  directed  not 
merely  against  the  souls,  but  against  the  bodies  of  men ; 
that  he  has  come  upon  them  not  merely  in  the  character 
of  an  inward  tempter  moving  and  enticing  their  minds 
to  sin,  but  that  he  has  employed  a  system  of  agencies 
with  a  view  to  the  infliction  of  various  physical  evils 
bearing  with  tremendous  weight  upon  their  individual 
and  social  state.  Consulting  the  records  of  the  human 
race  in  the  pages  of  history,  we  learn  that  it  has  been 
by  means  of  an  array  of  organised  instrumentalities  in 
the  form  of  tyrannical  governments,  backed  by  false 
religions,  that  the  seed  of  the  serpent  have  waged  their 
unhallowed  warfare  against  the  seed  of  the  woman,  the 
sons  of  sanctity.  It  has  been  through  the  agency  of 
despotic  kings  and  bigoted  priests, — of  monarchies  and 
hierarchies, — that  the  grievous  and  untold  sufferings  of 
the  mass  of  men  have  in  all  ages  been  visited  upon 
them.  This  assuredly  has  been  the  grand  character  of 
the  Satanic  devices.  This  has  been  the  master-plot  of 
this  arch-contriver  of  political  and  moral  mischief  to 
the  human  race.  From  the  -days  of  Nimrod,  when 
that  mighty  hunter  erected,  on  the  plains  of  Shinar,  the 
ancient  Babylon  as  the  metropolis  of  an  intended  uni- 
versal monarchy,  the  greatest  scourge  which  has  rested 
upon  the  earth,  that  which  has  breathed  with  most 
effect  its  blasting  mildews  over  the  harvest-lield  of  the 
human  mind,  has  existed  in  the  form  of  great  consoli- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  93 

dated  governments,  founded  upon  despotic  principles, 
enforced  by  gloomy  superstitions,  and  upheld  by  the 
terrors  of  the  sword,  the  rack,  the  block,  and  the  dun- 
geon. The  Devil  has  inspired  these  governmental 
fabrics  as  their  prompting  genius,  and  in  the  language 
of  prophecy  has  given  them  their  denomination.  He 
has  ensconced  himself  behind  the  political  outworks. 
He  has  plied  the  secret  machinery  of  the  imperial  en- 
gines, and  has  been  to  them  in  fact  in  all  ages  precisely 
that  which  the  soul  is  to  the  body.  We  hesitate  not, 
therefore,  to  consider  the  Dragon  of  the  Revelation  as  a 
standing  symbol  of  Paganism^  including  in  that  term 
the  twofold  idea  of  despotic  government  and  false  reli- 
gion. Can  a  lingering  doubt  remain  of  the  justness  of 
this  interpretation  when  we  advert  to  the  peculiar  cos- 
tume of  the  image  1  "And  behold  a  great  red  dragon 
having  seven  heads  and  seven  crowns  upon  his  heads." 
Is  not  a  crown  the'  symbol  of  sovereignty  ?  And  what 
can  be  understood  by  the  seven  crowned  heads,  but 
seven  imperial  kingdoms  which  exercised,  at  different 
periods,  an  oppressive  domination  over  the  church  ? 
We  say,  *  at  different  periods,'  because,  as  the  symbols 
here  employed  are  not  to  be  restricted  to  any  one  point 
of  time,  but  are  to  be  conceived  as  spreading  over  a 
long  period,  we  are  forced  to  regard  these  seven  heads 
as  representing  seven  successive  reigning  powers,  com- 
ing one  after  another  into  existence  by  gradual  accre- 
tion through  the  course  of  centuries,  till  at  the  date  of 
the  vision  the  Dragon  had  received  his  entire  comple- 
ment of  heads,  and  in  the  Pagan  Roman  Empire  stood 
forth  to  the  eye  of  the  Prophet  in  the  full  maturity  of 
I 


94  TREATISE    ON 

his  age,  and  in  the  highest  vigour  of  his  action.  The 
exact  specification  of  the  number  seven  in  regard  to 
these  emblematic  heads  is  indeed  a  matter  of  some  dif- 
ficulty ;  but  as  this  number  is  repeatedly  used  in  the 
sacred  volume  in  an  indefinite  sense,  implying  the  sum 
total,  the  universality,  the  perfection  of  the  things 
spoken  of,  so  in  the  present  instance  it  may  simply  be 
intended  to  denote  all  the  despotic  and  oppressive  civil 
powers  which,  anterior  to  the  age  of  the  prophet,  had 
put  their  yokes  upon  the  necks  of  the  peculiar  people. 
In  this  enumeration  we  cannot  mistake  in  reckoning 
Egypt,  Babylon,  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome.  And  if 
fuller  details  of  ancient  history  had  remained  to  us,  we 
should  probably  be  able  at  least  to  complete  the  cata- 
logue. From  the  fact  that  John  saw  each  of  these  heads 
actually  wearing  a  crown,  whereas,  at  the  time  of  the 
vision,  only  the  Roman  head  was  in  reality  in  being,  it 
is  evident  that  he  was  favoured  with  a  lengthened  survey 
of  the  chronological  career  of  the  Dragon,  comprising 
the  whole  term  of  the  disastrous  dominance  of  his 
heads.  In  the  subsequent  vision  of  the  Beast,  the 
Dragon's  successor,  the  crowns  had  passed  from  the 
heads  to  the  horns,  indicating  that  that  sovereignty 
which  had  formerly  pertained  to  the  seven  successive 
Pagan  empires  had  now  became  concentrated  in  the 
ten  independent  governments,  symbolised  by  the  horns, 
into  which  the  Roman  Empire  in  its  latter  stages  had 
become  divided. 

That  this  interpretation  of  'heads,'  as  a  prophetic 
symbol,  rests  upon  something  more  than  mere  conjec- 
ture will  appear  from  a  consideration  of  the  nature  of 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  95 

symbolic  language.  "We  must  note,"  says  Daubuz, 
"  that  the  governing  part  of  the  political  world  appears  un- 
der symbols  of  different  species  ;  and  that  it  is  variously 
represented  according  to  the  various  kinds  of  allegories. 
If  the  allegory  be  derived  from  the  sensible  world,  then 
the  luminaries  denote  the  governing  part ;  if  from  an 
animal,  the  head  or  horns ;  if  from  the  earth,  a  moun- 
tain or  fortress;  and  in  this  case  the  capital  cily,  or 
residence  of  the  governor,  is  taken  for  the  supreme  ;  by 
which  it  happens  that  these  mutually  illustrate  each 
Other.  So  a  capital  city  is  the  head  of  the  political 
body ;  the  head  of  the  animal  is  the  fortress  of  the  ani- 
mal ;  mountains  are  the  natural  fortresses  of  the  earth  ; 
and  therefore  a  fortress  or  capital  city,  though  set  in  a 
plain  level  ground,  may  be  called  a  mountain.  And  this 
by  the  rule  of  analogical  metaphors,  the  terms  of  wliich 
mutually  illustrate  each  other.  Thus  head,  mountain, 
hill,  city,  horn,  arfd  king  are  in  a  manner  synonymous 
terms  to  signify  a  kingdom,  monarchy,  or  republic 
united  under  one  government ;  only  with  this  difference, 
that  it  is  to  be  understood  in  different  respects  :  for  the 
head  represents  it  in  respect  of  the  capital  city ;  moun- 
tain or  hill,  in  respect  of  the  strength  of  the  metropolis, 
which  gives  law,  or  is  above  the  adjacent  territories  ; 
and  the  like.  Thus  in  Is.  2.  2.  'And  it  shall  come  to 
pass  in  the  last  days  that  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's 
house  shall  be  established  in  the  tops  of  the  mountains,/ 
and  shall  be  exalted  above  the  hills  ;  and  all  nations 
shall  flow  unto  it.'  This  needs  not  to  be  proved  to  sig- 
nify the  kingdom  of  the  Messias.  So  a  capital  city  is 
a  head,  and  taken  for  the  whole  territory  thereof,  as  in 


96  TREATISE    ON" 

Is.  7.  8,  9.  *  For  the  head  of  Syria  is  Damascus,  and 
the  head  of  Damascus  is  Rezin  ;  and  the  head  of 
Ephiaim  is  Samaria,  and  the  head  of  Siamaria  is  Rema- 
liah's  son.'  Is.  11.  9.  'They shall  not  hurt  or  destroy 
in  all  my  holy  mountain,'*  that  is,  in  all  the  kingdom  of 
the  Messias,  which  shall  then  reach  all  over  the  world, 
for  it  follows  ;  '  The  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  Lord,'  Mic.  6.  7,  8.  '  Contend  thou  before  the 
mountains,  and  let  the  hills  hear  thy  voice :  hear,  ye 
mountains,  the  Lord's  controversy.'  The  commentators 
here  say  :  '  Montes  hie  vocat  principes  et  proceres' — 
he  here  calls  princes  and  potentates  mountains,  citing  for 
it  Ps.  72.  3.  Is.  2.  14.  Habak.  3.  6.  So  the  whole 
Assyrian  monarchy  is  called  a  mountain  in  Zech.  4.  7. 
'Who  art  thou,  O great  mountain?  before  Zerubbabel 
thou  shalt  become  a  plain;'  and  in  Jerem.  51.  25,  'a 
destroying  mountain.''  Thus  also  in  Dan.  2.  35.  '  The 
stone  that  smote  the  image  became  a  great  mountain^ 
and  filled  the  whole  earth  ;'  that  is,  the  kingdom  of  the 
Messias  having  destroyed  the  four  monarchies  became 
an  universal  monarchy,  as  it  is  plainly  made  out  in  Vi 
44,  45.  Again,  Is.  41.  15.  'Thou  shalt  thresh  the 
mountains,  and  shalt  make  the  hills  as  chaff."  Targi 
'  Occides  populos,  et  consumes  regna,  quasi  stipulam 
pones  eos' — thou  shalt  slay  the  people,  and  shalt  con- 
sume the  kingdoms ;  thou  shalt  make  them  as  stubble.*^* 
Heads  and  mountains  therefore  being  synonymous  sym- 
bols, the  seven  heads  of  the  Dragon  are  seven  monar- 
chies.    This  is  strikingly  confirmed  by  a  reference  to 

*  Perpet.  Comment,  p.  SOT. 


THE    MILLENNIUar^  97 

Rev.  17.  9,  10,  where  the  prophet  gives  a  description  of 
the  Beast  which  succeeded  the  Dragon,  and  whose 
power  territorially  considered  was  commensurate  with 
that  of  the  Dragon,  so  that  the  heads  in  each  are  a 
symbol  perfectly  equivalent,  and  which  is  thus  explained 
by  the  interpreting  angel ;  "  Here  is  the  mind  which 
hath  wisdom.  The  seven  heads  are  seven  mountains, 
on  which  the  woman  sitteth.  And  there  are  seven 
kings."  The  translation  here  is  unhappy.*  By  the 
sentence  being  closed  at  the  word  'sitteth,'  and  the  next 
made  to  begin  thus  ;  *  And  there  are  seven  kings,'  the 
*  seven  kings'  are  separated  from  their  antecedents,  and 
the  verb  '  are'  from  its  nominative,  and  the  reader  is  led 
to  suppose  that  the  words  '  there  are  seven  kings'  have 
no  particular  connexion  with  the  seven  heads  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse.  Whereas  it  is  clear  from  the  original, 
that  the  seven  heads  are  the  antecedent  both  to  the  seven 
mountains  and  to  the  seven  kings,  and  the  nominative  to 
both  the  verbs  which  precede  the  words  '  mountains' 
and  '  kings.'  A  literal  translation  would  render  the 
passage  thus  : — *  The  seven  heads  are  seven  mountains 
where  the  woman  sitteth  upon  them,  and  they  are  seven 
kings ;'  i.  e.  kingdoms,  the  uniform  sense  of  the  term 
*^  kings'"  in  the  style  of  the  prophets.  The  drift  of  the 
hierophantic  angel  is  to  inform  the  wondering  seer,  that 
'heads'  and  'mountains'  were  equivalent  symbols,  both 
denoting  'kingdoms.*^  By  the  woman's  sitting  on  seven 
mountains^  therefore,  we  are  to  understand  that  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  in  its  ecclesiastical  form,  embraced  within 

*  A{  'e-irra  Ke<paXai  'opt]  ecnv  'eirra,  'oirov  'ij  yvv^  KaQrfjai  'en   avrwv,  icai 
(iociXeis  't-rrra  eiaiv. 

12 


98  TREATISE    OK 

its  limits  all  those  ancient  sovereignties  which  had  con- 
stituted the  heads  of  the  Dragon  in  former  ages,  and 
which  had  successively  yielded  to  the  Roman  arms,  and 
been  merged  into  constituent  parts  of  its  imperial  in- 
tegrity. As,  however,  the  city  of  Rome  itself  wa& 
seated  upon  seven  hills,  there  is  in  the  image  a  simulta- 
neous secondary  allusion  to  that  far-famed  centre  of  su- 
premacy. At  the  same  time  we  do  not  hesitate  to  af- 
firm, that  the  plenitude  of  the  symbol  is  far  from  being 
exhausted  by  its  application  to  the  Capitoline,  Viminal, 
Quirinal,  and  other  hills,  which  constituted  the  site  of 
the  '  eternal  city.'  "  We  must  not  here  forget,"  says 
the  writer  above  cited,  "  as  a  secondary  event  or  coin- 
cidence of  this  prophecy,  that  the  capital  city  of  the 
Dragon's  dominions  was  placed  upon  seven  heads  o^ 
hills.  The  Roman  authors  are  full  of  that  notion  ;  and 
as  if  that  circumstance  were  fatal,  not  only  Rome  was 
so  built,  but  also  Constantinople  or  the  New  Rome,  sis- 
ter to  the  former,  was  built  on  seven  hills.  This,  I  con- 
fess, is  a  kind  of  fatal  coincidence ;  but  yet  the  first  in- 
tention of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  to  express  that,  but 
that  the  empire  of  the  Dragon  should,  in  its  whole  ex- 
tent and  duration,  as  also  the  Beast  his  successor,  con- 
sist of  seven  capital  cities  or  monarchies ;  which  is  the 
true  meaning  of  the  seven  heads,  mountains,  or  kings. 
We  may  not  imagine  that  the  Holy  Ghost  would  dwell 
upon  so  narrow  a  conceit  as  that  circumstance  of  the 
building  of  the  city,  and  neglect  that  remarkable  one  of 
the  extent  of  the.  dominions  ;  besides,  that  the  exposi- 
-  lion  of  seven  kingdoms  destroys  so  trifling  a  notion  of 
the  seven  mountains.    There  goes  about  another  account 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  99 

of  these  seven  heads,  said  to  be  found  out  by  King  James 
the  First : — that  the  seven  heads  were  the  seven  kinds 
of  government  which  have  been  in  Rome  from  its  foun- 
dation under  the  kings  to  the  emperors  and  popes. 
This  is  mightily  applauded  by  Du  Mouhn,  followed  by 
Mede,  Jurieu,  and  who  not.  But  we  cannot  acquiesce 
therein,  both  upon  the  account  of  the  true  signification 
of  head  or  mountain^  as  we  have  explained  and  fully 
proved  it;  and  more  especially  for  the  following  reason: 
— That  the  Holy  Ghost  doth  not  use  to  call  any  gov- 
ernment by  any  other  name  but  that  of  kingdom,  and  so 
takes  no  notice  of  what  changes  might  be  made  in  the 
lodging  of  the  supreme  power  in  different  hands,  pro- 
vided it  remains  in  the  hands  of  the  same  nation.  It  is 
still  the  same  head  though  it  should  run  through  many 
more  sorts  of  government.  A  king  signifies  the  pos- 
sessor of  the  supreme  power,  let  it  be  lodged  in  one 
person,  two,  ten,  or  more  ;  and  a  head  or  capital  city  is 
still  the  same  head,  though  its  power  be  executed  by  a 
king,  consuls,  decemvirs,  or  senate.  For  we  must  argue 
about  the  political  body  as  about  the  animal.  The 
changes  that  happen  in  the  animal  through  the  various 
nourishment  it  takes,or  the  different  ages  it  goes  through, 
are  not  wont  to  make  us  describe  him  with  different 
bodies,  heads,  or  faces,  (merely)  because  the  appearance 
of  these  hath  sometimes  changed ;  so  it  is  in  the  polit- 
ical body.  Many  revolutions  may  happen  therein  from 
within  itself,  but  as  long  as  the  same  polity  is  preserved 
in  the  same  city,  people,  and  laws,  without  making  any 
thorough  or  partial  change  of  nation,  occasioned  by  the 
force  of  foreign  armies,  it  is  the  same  political  body,  and 


100  TREATISE  ON 

the  same  head  too,  whilst  it  is  held  in  the  same  place, 
and  the  laws  of  the  government  are  issued  from  it. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  changes  of  the  ministry  make  no 
alteration  of  the  head  ;  and  by  consequence  that  every 
such  change  makes  not  a  new  and  different  head."* 

We  have  proceeded  thus  far  in  our  explication  of  the 
symbol  of  the  Dragon  without  appealing,  in  confirmation 
of  its  justness,  to  any  express  passage  of  holy  writ. 
It  will  be  proper,  therefore,  to  ascertain  how  far  the 
usage  of  the  sacred  writers  in  respect  to  this  remarkable 
hieroglyphic,  goes  to  authenticate  the  interpretation  now 
given.  In  the  seventy-fourth  Psalm  we  meet  with  a 
plaintive  lament  of  the  Psalmist  over  the  desolation  and 
havoc  which  the  enemies  of  Zion  had  wrought  within 
the  limits  of  the  holy  land,  and  even  within  the  precincts 
of  the  sanctuary,  the  dwelling  place  of  the  name  of  the 
Lord  of  hosts.  This  is  followed  by  an  earnest  prayer 
for  the  divine  interposition,  grounded  upon  the  recollec- 
tion of  what  God  had  wrought  in  behalf  of  his  people 
in  former  days>  of  which  the  suppliant  says,  v.  12-14, 
*  For  God  is  my  king  of  old,  working  salvation  in  the 
midst  of  the  earth.  Thou  didst  divide  the  sea  by  thy 
strength :  thou  brakest  the  heads  of  the  dragons  in 
the  waters.  Thou  brakest  the  heads  of  leviathan  m 
pieces,  and  gavest  him  to  be  meat  to  the  people  inhab- 
iting the  wilderness.'  This^  is  an  evident  allusion  to 
the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptian  power  when  the  Israelites 
were  brought  out  and  delivered  from  their  hand.  In  the 
highly  figured  diction  of  the  prophets  the  Egyptians 

*  Perpet.  Comment,  p.  514. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  1 01 

are  denominated  dragons^  and  Pharaoh  himself,  their 
prince,  styled  Leviathan^  the  master-monster  of  the 
deep.  Accordingly  the  Chaldee  Targum  renders  the 
passage,  '  Tu  confregisti  capita  fortium  Pharaonis,' — 
thou  hast  broken  the  heads  of  the  mighty  men  of  Pha- 
raoh, The  Leviathan  is  the  great  Dragon,  as  we  find 
by  Ps.  104.  26.  '  There  is  that  leviathan  whom  thou 
hast  made  to  play  therein,'  where  Af>oi>ca>^ — dragon  is 
the  rendering  employed  by  the  Seventy.  The  term  is 
in  fact  applied  to  any  huge  monster  of  the  serpent  kind, 
whether  aquatic  or  terrestrial,  as  even  the  original 
Hebrew  word  for  '  whale'  is  in  some  cases  rendered  by 
the  Greek  term  for  dragon.  As  to  the  expression — 
*  gavest  him  to  be  meat  to  the  people  inhabiting  the  wil- 
derness'— this  is  to  be  understood  symbolically,  for  in 
that  character  fiesh  is  used  to  denote  spoils  or  riches  ; 
so  that  the  language  points  to  the  circumstance  of  the 
Israelites  carrying' with  them  into  the  wilderness  the 
treasures  of  gold  and  silver  of  which  they  had  de- 
spoiled their  oppressors,  both  at  the  time  of  their  de- 
parture from  Egypt,  and  when  their  dead  bodies  lay 
scattered  upon  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea.  Again,  Is. 
51.  9.  'Art  thou  not  it  that  hath  cut  Rahab,  and 
wounded  the  dragon  ?  Art  thou  not  it  whieh  hath  dried 
np  the  sea?'  Here  Rahab  is  Egiypt^  as  has  been 
clearly  proved  by  Bochart,*  and  the  Dragon  is  Pharaoh 
King  of  Egypt ;  strikingly  parallel  to  which  is  Ezek. 
29.  3.  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Behold,  I  am  against 
thee,  Pharaoh  King  of  Egypt,  the  great  dragon  that 

♦  Phaleg.  L.  IV.  c.  23. 


102  TREATISE  ON 

lieth  in  the  midst  of  his  rivers.'  From  his  being  said 
to  be  an  inhabitant  of  '  rivers,*  and  from  the  mention, 
V.  4,  of  his  '  scales,'  it  is  not  without  reason  supposed 
that  the  dragon  liere  alluded  to  was  the  Egyptian  croco- 
dile^ and  Bochart  has  remarked  that  the  Arabians  call 
the  crocodile  by  the  name  of  Pharaoh.*  This  circum- 
stance however  does  not  affect  its  symbolical  import. 
In  Ezek.  32.  2,  the  prophet  resumes  his  comparison, 
saying,  '  Son  of  man,  take  up  a  lamentation  for  Pha- 
raoh King  of  Egypt,  and  say  unto  him,  Thou  art  like 
a  young  lion  of  the  nations,  and  thou  art  as  a  whale 
(Gr.  'tfs  ^f)ccx.m — as  a  dragon)  in  the  seas.'  If  however 
we  take  the  word  to  signify  any  large  creature  what- 
ever of  the  serpent  species,  it  amounts  to  the  same 
thing.  It  still  denotes  a  tyrannical  persecuting  power. 
In  Is.  27.  1,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  same  symbol  is 
presented  under  a  striking  diversity  of  titles.  *  In  that 
day  .the  Lord  with  his  sore  and  great  and  strong  sword 
shall  punish  leviathan  the  piercing  serpent,  even  levia- 
than that  crooked  serpent ;  and  he  shall  slay  the  dragon 
that  is  in  the  sea.'  Here  we  have  one  and  the  same 
thing  denominated  the  Leviathan  or  Crocodile,  the  Ser- 
pent, and  the  Dragon.  *  These,'  says  Lowth,  *  are  used 
allegorically,  without  doubt,  for  great  potentates,  ene- 
mies and  persecutors  of  the  people  of  God.'  The  pas- 
sage is  thus  paraphrased  by  the  Targumist : — '  In  that 
time  the  Lord  will  visit  with  his  great  and  strong  and 

*  Scheiichzer  on  this  passage  observes,  that  among  the  an- 
cients the  crocodile  was  the  symbol  of  Egypt,  and  appears  so 
on  Roman  coins.  And  to  what  could  a  king  of  Egypt  be 
more  properly  compared  than  to  a  crocodile  ? 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  103 

mighty  sword  upon  the  king  who  is  magnified,  as  Pha- 
raoh the  first  king,  and  upon  the  king  who  is  elevated, 
as  Sennacherib  the  second  king,  and  shall  slay  .the  king 
who  is  potent,  as  the  dragon  in  the  sea.'  These  kings 
are  called  Dragons  and  Serpents,  because  enemies  to 
Israel.  Ps.  91.  13.  'Thou  shalt  tread  upon  the  lion 
and  adder ;  the  young  lion  and  the  dragon  shalt  thou 
trample  under  feet ;'  i.  e.  thou  shalt  bring  thy  bitterest 
enemies  into  subjection. 

From  all  that  has  now  been  adduced  in  relation  to 
the  subject,  we  infer,  that  the  symbolical  import  of  the 
Dragon  throughout  the  Scriptures  is  that  of  a  vast  sys- 
tem of  civil  and  religious  oppression,  perpetuated  through 
a  long  course  of  ages,  and  which  at  the  time  of  this 
vision,  was  embodied  in  the  existing  Roman  Empire,  the 
last  in  that  series  of  despotic  and  Pagan  powers  which 
went  to  form  the  completeness  of  the  draconic  domin- 
ion. But  at  the  period  of  the  vouchsafement  of  these 
visions  to  John,  the  Roman  Empire  embraced  within  its 
limits  nearly  the  whole  of  the  then  known  world,  as  is 
evident  from  the  words  of  the  Evangelist,  Luke,  2.  ], 
*  There  went  out  a  decree  from  Caesar  Augustus  that 
all  the  world  should  be  taxed  ;'  meaning  all  the  prov- 
inces of  the  Roman  Empire.  When  it  is  said  there- 
fore that  the  Dragon  which  was  cast  out  of  heaven  was 
the  Old  Serpent,  called  the  Devil  and  Satan,  which  de- 
ceiveth  the  whole  worlds  we  are  led  at  once  to  conceive 
of  the  *  whole  world'  as  synonymous  with  the  territorial 
platform  of  the  Roman  Empire,  which  especially  con- 
stituted the  theatre  of  the  Devil's  or  the  Dragon's  juris- 
diction, and  of  which  he  was  as  it  were  the  actuating 


104  TTREATISE    ON 

and  presiding  genius.  Accordingly  it  was  the  Romail 
Empire  as  a  grand  governmental  dominion  which  the 
Dragon  afterward  transferred  to  the  Beast,  as  it  is  said 
Rev.  13.  2,  that  'The  dragon  gave  him  his  power,  and 
his  seat,  and  great  authority.'  When  we  read,  therefore, 
in  the  history  of  the  Saviour's  temptation,  that  the  Devil 
showed  him  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  and  the  glory 
of  them,  the  explanation  doubtless  i&,  that  he  showed 
him  the  splendour  and  magnificence  of  the  Roman 
power,  of  which  he  claimed  the  lordship,  and  by  his 
promising  to  bestow  all  this  upon  Christ  provided  he 
would  fall  down  and  worship  him,  it  was  but  promising 
in  other  words  that  he  would  make  him  Caesar,  which 
he  imagined  he  could  safely  do,  inasmuch  as  he  was 
enabled  to  say,  '  For  that  is  mine,  and  to  whomsoever 
I  will,  I  give  it ;'  a^  claim  which  would  seem  to  be 
countenanced  by  his  having  afterward  made  it  over  to 
the  Beast.  It  was  his  however  merely  by  divine  per- 
mission or  providential  economy,  and  not  by  original 
right.  It  was  for  wise  reasons,  afterward  to  be  devel- 
oped, that  he  was  permitted  to  become  the  ruling  spirit 
of  that  huge  despotism. 

And  here  we  cannot  but  remark,  that  our  interpreta=- 
tion  of  the  symbol  of  the  Dragon  receives  a  strong  colla- 
teral confirmation  from  the  manner  in  which  the  Serpent 
has  ever  been  regarded  by  heathen  nations.  Through- 
out the  mythology  of  the  ancients  the  Serpent,  under 
some  form  or  other,  occupies  a  very  conspicuous  place ; 
and  how  far  this  feature  of  their  system  is  to  be  traced, 
through  broken  and  distorted  traditions,  to  the  scriptural 
history  of  the  Fall  and  the  symbolical  imagery  founded 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  105 

upon  it,  would  constitute  one  of  the  most  interesting 
subjects  of  antiquarian  research.  Bryant,  than  whom 
few  men  have  ever  lived  better  qualified  to  prosecute 
the  inquiry,  had  he  seen  fit  to  embark  in  it,  remarks, 
that  *  it  would  be  a  noble  undertaking,  and  very  edifying 
in  its  consequences,  if  some  person  of  true  learning 
and  deep  insight  into  antiquity  would  go  through  with 
the  history  of  the  Serpent.'*  Scarcely  a  Pagan  nation 
has  existed  among  whom  ophiolatry^  or  serpent-worship, 
has  not  been  established,  as  will  appear  from  the 
slightest  inspection  of  their  religious  hieroglyphics. 
The  fabulous  legends  of  the  poets  intertwine  with  the 
dogmas  of  the  priest  and  the  speculations  of  the  philo- 
sopher in  forming  the  thread  which  conducts  us  to  the 
inspired  origin  of  the  heathen  notions  on  this  subject. 
The  idea  so  prevalent  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world 
of  the  existence  of  two  great  opposing  Principles,  the 
Spirit  of  Good  and  the  Spirit  of  Evil,  the  last  of  which 
was  ordinarily  symbolized  by  a  serpent,  unquestionably 
refers  itself  directly  to  this  source.  The  following 
passage,  from  the  treatise  of  Plutarch  on  the  Isis  and 
Osiris  of  the  Egyptians,  is  among  the  most  important 
relics  of  antiquity.  After  speaking  of  Typhon,  the 
Egyptian  symbol  of  the  Principle  of  Evil,  he  observes  : 
"  This  very  ancient  opinion  is  derived  from  the  divines 
and  lawgivers  to  the  poets  and  philosophers,  havnig  an 
unknown  beginning,  that  the  universe  is  not  a  principle 
without  mind  and  reason,  and  ungoverned  as  if  left  to 
itself,  but  is  governed   by  two   contrary  and  jarring 

♦  Bryant's  Anc.  Myth.  vol.  i.  473.  4to.  ed. 
K 


106  TREATISE    ON 

powers,  the  one  leading  directly  forward  to  the  right, 
and  the  other  retrograde  and  wayward.  So  that  this 
life  is  mixed,  and  the  world  irregular  and  various,  and 
subject  to  all  manner  of  change.  For  if  there  be 
nothing  without  a  cause,  and  good  cannot  afford  the 
cause  of  evil,  there  must  be  some  peculiar  generation 
and  principle  containing  the  nature  of  evil  as  well  as  of 
good.  And  this  opinion  was  held  by  the  mass  of  the  wisest 
of  men.  For  they  believe  that  there  are  two  Gods,  like 
antagonists,  the  first,  the  Creator  of  Good,  the  latter  of 
Evil.  The  better  of  them  they  call  God,  the  other 
Demo?i,  as  they  are  termed  by  Zoroaster,  the  magician 
(sage),  who  is  reported  to  have  lived  five  thousand  years 
before  the  Trojan  war.  He  called  the  first  Oromazes, 
and  the  other  Arimanes ;  and  added,  that  the  first  was 
most  like  Light,  and  the  latter  like  Darkness  and  Error"* 
The  name  of  this  evil  genius,  Apetf^dVTjg,  whom  Plutarch 
elsewhere  denominates  Trovspog  ^ui/^uv,  inicked  demons 
and  who  is  styled  by  Diogenes  Laertius  'a<Jjj5,  hell,  un- 
questionably betrays  a  Hebraic  origin.  Some  derive  it 
from  D-n;^,  Chal.  Dni<  astutus,  cunning,  crafty,  the  ap- 
pellation bestowed  upon  the  Serpent,  Gen.  3.  1,  to  which, 
if  the  Arabic  termination  be  added,  it  makes  it  Ariman. 
Others  deduce  it  from  n?3%  Chal.  ^S^,  jrAavav,  to  deceive, 
as  if  it  were  merely  the  Greek  form  of  p'riD'^n  the 
deceiver.  Still,  in  either  case,  the  term  shows  its  affinity 
with  the  Hebrew  language  and  with  the  distinguishing 
attributes  of  the  Dragon  or  Old  Serpent,  the  standing 
adversary  of  God  and  man.     The   name  of  the  idol 

*  Plut.  de  Isid.  et  Osirid.  p.  407.  ed.  Aid. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  107 

Rimmo7i,  mentioned  2  Kings  5.  18.  is  probably  to  be 
referred  to  the  same  source.  Now  this  mythologic 
divinity  Arimanes  is  the  same  with  the  Typho  of  the 
Egyptians,  who  was  represented  and  worshipped  under 
the  form  of  a  serpent.  And  it  is  worthy  of  note  that 
the  title  Belial  in  the  Scriptures,  another  name  for  the 
evil  spirit,  of  which  the  Greek  form  is  BeXtxp,  Beliar, 
is  defined  by  Hesychius  by  ^pxKeov^  dragon.  But  to 
what  was  it  owing  that  the  Serpent,  the  symbol  of  all 
ill,  the  grand  personification  of  mischief  and  sin,  instead 
of  being  detested  as  an  enemy,  came  to  be  worshipped 
as  a  god,  having  his  altars,  and  services,  and  votaries 
among  all  pagan  nations  on  earth  ?  Perhaps  no  more 
satisfactory  solution  of  this  remarkable  fact  can  be 
given,  than  to  suppose  that  that  which  was  at  first  abomi- 
nated as  the  symbol  of  the  wicked  principle,  came  in 
process  of  time,  fuom  a  motive  of  fear,  to  be  regarded  as 
having  the  power  of  doing  harm  to  mankind,  which 
it  was  necessary  for  them  to  deprecate  by  sacrifices 
and  offerings.  Hence  the  Serpent  began  to  be  wor- 
shipped, and  the  natural  efifect  would  eventually  be,  that 
he  should  be  regarded  as  a  placable  deity,  having  it 
equally  in  his  power  with  other  tutelary  demons  to  do 
good  and  to  confer  blessings  when  his  favour  was  secured. 
"The  devil,"  says  Mr.  Owen,  "  who  under  the  shape 
of  a  serpent  tempted  our  first  parents,  has,  with  un» 
wearied  application,  laboured  to  deify  that  animal  as  a 
troi)hy  of  his  first  victory  over  mankind.  God  having 
passed  sentence  upon  the  serpent,  Satan  consecrates 
that  form  in  which  he  deceived  the  woman,  and  intro- 
duces it  into  the  world  as  an  object  of  religious  venera- 


108  TREATISE   ON 

tion.  This  he  did  with  a  view  to  enei*vate  the  force  of 
the  divine  oracle  with  respect  to  the  seed  of  the  woman. 
Scarcely  a  nation  upon  earth,  but  he  has  tempted  to 
the  grossest  idolatry,  and  in  particular  got  himself  to 
be  worshipped  in  the  hideous  form  of  a  serpent."* 

"And  his  tail  drew  the  third  part  of  the  stars  of 
heaven,  and  did  cast  them  to  the  earth."  A.  '  tail,'  con- 
sidered as  a  prophetic  emblem,  is  used  to  signify  two 
things  which  frequently  concur  in  the  same  subject,  the 
one  being  the  cause  of  the  other.  (1.)  It  denotes  sub- 
jection, or  oppression  under  tyranny.  In  this  sense  the 
symbol  occurs  wdth  the  explanation  of  God  himself, 
Deut.  38.  13.  where  he  promises  blessings  to  the  obe- 
dient ;  '  And  the  Lord  shall  make  thee  the  head  and 
not  the  tail ;  and  thou  shalt  be  above  only,  and  thou 
shalt  not  be  beneath.'  (2.)  It  signifies  a  false  prophet, 
impostor,  or  deceiver,  one  who  propagates  corrupt  and 
pernicious  doctrines,  as  the  scorpion  infuses  into  his 
victims  the  deadly  poison  of  his  tail.  Is.  9.  14,  15. 
'Therefore  the  Lord  will  cut  off  from  Israel  head  and 
tail^  branch  and  rush,  in  one  day.  The  ancient  and 
honourable,  he  is  the  head  ;  and  the  prophet  that  teacheth 
lies^  he  is  the  tail.^  Again,  Is.  19.  15.  '  Neither  shall 
there  be  any  work  for  Egypt,  which  the  head  or  tail, 
branch  or  rush,  may  do ;'  i.  e.  neither  the  power  of  the 
princes  nor  the  devices  of  false  prophets  and  enchanters 
shall  be  at  all  availing.  'Stars,'  on  the  other  hand, 
is  the  well-known  symbol  of  spiritual  teachers  or 
ministers  of  the  truth;  so  that  by  the  Dragon's  drawing 

*  Owen>  Hist„,  of  the  Seup..  p.  ^16^, 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  109 

down  from  heaven,  by  means  of  his  tail,  a  third,  that 
is,  a  large  or  very  considerable  part  of  the  stars,  is 
shadowed  forth  the  exertion  of  an  evil  influence  through 
the  agency  of  idolatrous  priests  and  other  abettors  of 
Paganism,  whereby  many  of  the  ministering  servants 
of  God,  the  reputed  luminaries  of  the  church,  are  pre- 
vailed upon  to  apostatize  from  the  true  religion,  and 
embrace  the  errors  and  abominations  of  Paganism. 
But  such  foul  defections  are  usually  the  result  of  the 
display  of  the  terrors  of  tyranny.  Men  are  not  ordi- 
narily seduced  from  the  true  faith  into  idolatry  except 
from  motives  of  fear.  So  that  the  twofold  idea  of  civil 
oppression  and  mental  delusion  is  included  under  the 
symbol  before  us.  That  this  has  been  in  all  ages  the 
character  of  the  Dragon,  history  renders  indubitable. 
For  this  feature  of  the  symbol,  like  the  foregoing,  is 
not  to  be  limited  to  any  particular  era,  but  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  descriptive  of  the  general  character  of  the 
monster  to  whom  it  pertains.  It  was,  however,  most 
signally  evinced  in  the  history  of  the  persecutions 
which  took  place  under  the  Roman  emperors.  "In 
every  persecution  there  were  great  numbers  of  unworthy 
Christians,  who  publicly  disowned  or  renounced  the  faith 
which  they  had  professed  ;  and  who  confirmed  the  sin^ 
cerity  of  their  abjuration,  by  the  legal  acts  of  burning 
incense  or  of  oflfering  sacrifices.  Some  of  these  apos- 
tates had  yielded  on  the  first  r^ienace  or  exhortation  of 
the  magistrate ;  while  the  patience  of  others  had  been 
subdued  by  the  length  or  repetition  of  tortures."* 


*   Gibbon's  Decl.  and  FaVl,  p.  21  ( 
K2 


110  TREATISE    ON" 

"  And  the  dragon  stood  before  the  woman  which  wa& 
ready  to  be  delivered,  for  to  devour  her  child  as  soon  as 
it  should  be  born."     Like  the  other  features    of   the 
hieroglyphic  scenery  upon  which  we  have  already  re» 
marked,  this  also  is  to  be  viewed  as  an  action  co-exten- 
sive with  the  entire  scope  of  the  vision.     It  is  to  be 
regarded   as   characteristic  of   the   Dragon  during  the 
whole  reigning  term  of  his  existence.     For  throughout 
every  period  of  the  gradual  acquisition  of  his  imperial 
heads,  he  maintained  the  same  attitude  of  deadly  hos- 
tility against  the  seed  of  the  woman  in  their  progressive 
developement.     Accordingly,  in  seeking  an  explication 
of  this  part  of  the  visionary  action  of  the  Dragon,  we 
have  only  to  revert  to  the  history  of  the  children  of  Is- 
rael in   Egypt,  the  first  probably   of  his  germinating 
heads ;  and  there,  in  the  ruthless  order  of  Pharaoh  to 
cast  all  the  male  children  into  the  Nile,  we  see  his  hor- 
rid appetite  glutting  itself  with  infant  blood.     At  a  later 
period,  after  the  attainment  of  his  Roman  head,  we  be- 
hold in  the  sanguinary  edict  of  Herod,  commanding  the 
slaughter  of  the   male  children  of  Bethlehem  and  its 
coasts,  the  same  cannibal  hankering  gorging  itself  with 
its  chosen  aliment.     But  of  his  intended  prey  he  was, 
in  this  latter  instance,  disappointed.     The  child  brought 
forth  by  the  woman,  which  we  consider  to  have  been 
literally  Jesus   Christ  himself,  was  caught  up  to  the 
throne  of  heaven.     The  true  Messiah,  having  broken 
asunder  the  bars  of  the  grave,  was  raised  to  the  right 
hand  of  God,  and  there  invested  with  that  divine  domin- 
ion which  the  Father  had  decreed  for  him  from  eternity. 
Then  commenced  the  symboUcal  war  in  heaven.     Un- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  Ill 

der  the  sublime  appellation  of  Michael,  or,  '  Who  is 
like  thee,  O  God?'  he  girded  his  sword  on  his  thigh, 
and  addressed  himself  to  the  glorious  work  of  vanquish- 
ing this  potent  possessor  of  high  places.  "  And  there 
was  war  in  heaven:  Michael  and  his  angels  fought 
against  the  dragon,  and  the  dragon  fought  and  his  an- 
gels, and  prevailed  not ;  neither  was  their  place  found 
any  more  in  heaven.  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast 
out."  As  the  book  of  Revelation  is  made  up  of  a  series 
of  pictorial  or  hieroglyphical  emblems,  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  reality  of  the  things  said  to  be  done 
in  heaven  actually  transpires  on  earth.  A  war  in  heaven 
is  but  the  shadow  of  a  grand  contest  on  earth,  as  heaven 
in  the  prophetic  symbols  seems  to  denote  mainly  a  state 
or  position  of  great  conspicuity.  By  the  necessity  of 
the  symbol,  the  conflicting  angels  are  nothing  more  than 
mortal  men,  who  take  the  opposite  sides  of  a  grand  liti- 
gated question.  In  truth,  the  prophet  himself  furnishes 
a  key  to  his  own  phraseology.  For  scarcely  are  the 
angels  of  Michael  brought  upon  the  stage,  when  they 
are  forthwith  styled  '  our  brethren  ;'  and  it  is  said,  more- 
over, that  '  they  overcome  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb, 
and  by  the  word  of  their  testimony,  and  that  they  loved 
not  their  lives  to  the  death.'  Nothing  therefore  can  be 
more  evident  than  that  the  angels  of  Michael  are  mere 
mortal  men,  and  we  are  bound  by  analogy  to  consider 
the  angels  of  the  Dragon  as  of  the  same  character.  It 
is  only  in  the  peculiar  elevated  style  of  prophecy  that 
this  is  represented  as  a  celestial  combat.  We  have 
therefore  to  recur  to  history  to  find  a  series  of  events 
which  we  may  suppose  to  have  been  adumbrated  by  the 


112  TREATISE    ON 

imagery  in  question.  And  such  a  train  of  occurrences 
meets  us  in  the  memorable  contest  between  Christianity 
and  Paganism  during  the  three  hundred  and  twenty 
years  subsequent  to  the  first  promulgation  of  the  Gos- 
pel.* Throughout  this  extended  period,  the  fierce  con- 
tention between  the  religion  of  the  cross  and  the  impe- 
rial Paganism  of  Rome  was  incessantly  kept  up.f  The 
fate  of  the  struggle  hung  for  a  long  time  apparently  in 
suspense  ;  for  the  advantages  of  the  Dragon  were  to 
human  view  signal  and  numerous.  Every  time  that  a 
band  of  faithful  martyrs  was  led  to  the  stake  or  the 
rack  ;  every  time  the  infuriated  cry,  '  Ad  leones  /'  was 

*  "  The  vision  of  the  war  in  heaven  in  the  Apocalypse  repre- 
sents the  vehement  struggle  between  Christianity  and  the  old 
idolatry  in  the  first  ages  of  the  gospel.  The  angels  of  the  two 
opposing  arniies  represent  two  opposing  parties  in  the  Roman 
state,  at  the  time  which  the  vision  more  particularly  regards. 
Michael's  angels  are  the  party  which  espoused  the  side  of  the 
Christian  religion,  the  friends  of  which  had,  for  many  years, 
been  numerous,  and  became  very  powerful  under  Constantino 
the  Great,  the  first  Christian  emperor :  the  Dragon's  angels 
are  the  party  which  endeavoured  to  support  the  old  idolatry." 
— Horsley's  Sermons,  p.  373. 

t  It  is  probable  that  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  designed  to 
convey  an  allusion  to  this  memorable  conflict  in  the  words  of 
Paul,  Eph.  6.  12.  '  For  we  wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood, 
but  against  principalities,  against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of 
the  darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high 
places  (sv  to/ct  iTrougaviotc — in  heavenly  places)^  Perhaps  also 
the  vision  of  the  prophet  affords  the  genuine  clew  to  the  desig- 
nation of  the  adversary  in  Eph.  2.  2.  '  Wherein  in  time  past 
ye  walked  according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  according  to 
the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air ;'  i.  e.  the  leader  and  com- 
mander of  this  mystic  aerial  or  heavenly  host. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  113 

raised  over  their  heads,  we  see  the  victory  inclining 
to  the  side  of  the  Dragon ;  and  yet  this  was  the  fact 
but  in  appearance,  for  it  was  by  their  meek  submission 
to  tortures,  by  yielding  their  lives  to  seal  their  testimony, 
that  they  overcame.  They  were  conquerors  through 
the  '  unresistible  might  of  weakness,'  for  they  loved  not 
their  lives  to  the  death. 

At  length  the  protracted  contest  sees  an  end.  The 
persecuting  power  of  the  Roman  Empire,  like  Saul  on 
his  way  to  Damascus,  is  arrested  in  mid-career,  and 
made  obedient  to  a  heavenly  vision.  Constantine,  the 
emperor,  becomes  a  converted  Christian.  The  rage  of 
persecution  ceases.  The  fires  of  martyrdom  are  extin- 
guished. The  streams  of  Christian  blood  are  stanched ; 
and  the  laws  of  the  empire,  before  replete  with  sangui- 
nary enactments  against  the  Christians,  are  now  dis- 
armed of  their  bloody  statutes,  and  henceforward  breathe 
nothing  but  peace  and  protection  towards  the  church. 
The  idols  of  heathenism  fall  down  from  their  niches, 
and  its  oracles,  instinct  with  the  promptings  of  the  old 
serpent,  are  struck  dumb.  The  altars  of  demons  sink 
into  the  earth,  and  Christianity  rises  in  her  native  majesty 
to  the  vacated  throne  of  Paganism.  This  then  was  the 
identical  result  shadowed  forth  by  the  casting  out  of  Satan 
or  the  Dragon  from  his  supremacy  in  the  hieroglyphic 
empyrean.  Then  did  he  fall  like  lightning  from  heaven. 
Then  rose  the  song  of  triumph  among  the  ranks  of  the 
victors  ;  significant  of  the  loud  reverberations  of  praise, 
of  the  din  of  triumphal  ascription,  of  the  hymnings  of 
joy,  exultation,  and  felicitation  in  the  church  on  earth. 
In  confirmation  or  illustration  of  this  we  have  only  to 


114  TREATISE    ON 

refer  to  the  patristic  writings  of  that  period.  Sure  we 
are  that  no  one  can  attentively  scan  their  tenor  without 
being  struck  with  the  tone  of  gratulation  which  pervades 
them.  He  has  but  to  consult  the  works  of  Eusebius 
and  Lactantius  to  be  convinced  that  some  illustrious 
theme  of  joy  had  kindled  their  eucharistic  strains  to  the 
highest  note.  The  church  catholic  appears  to  be  vocal 
with  thanksgiving  and  the  voice  of  melody.  With  one 
accord  they  appear  to  have  adopted  the  language  of 
restored  Israel :  "  When  the  Lord  turned  again  the 
captivity  of  Zion,  we  were  like  them  that  dream  ;  then 
was  our  mouth  filled  with  laughter,  and  our  tongue  with 
singing." 

The  following  translated  extract  from  a  laudatory 
letter  of  Lactantius  to  Constantine  may  serve  as  a  spe- 
cimen of  innumerable  passages  which  might  be  cited 
from  his  own  and  the  works   of  his  contemporaries. 

"  Nine  times  subjected  to  various  tortures,  nine  times 
hast  thou  conquered  the  adversary  by  a  glorious  confes- 
sion. After  warring  in  nine  conflicts  with  the  Devil 
and  his  satellites,  thou  hast  in  nine  victories  triumphed 
over  the  world  with  its  terrors.  How  pleasing  a  spec- 
tacle was  it  to  God  when  he  beheld  thee  conqueror  !  not 
subjecting  milk-white  horses  or  huge  elephants  to  thy 
chariot,  but  victors  themselves.  This  is  a  genuine 
triumph  when  conquerors  are  conquered.  For  such  by 
thy  virtue  are  effectually  subdued ;  inasmuch  as  having 
trampled  upon  all  unhallowed  domination  thou  hast,  by 
a  stable  faith  and  unconquered  mind,  put  to  flight  the 
whole  formidable  array  of  despotic  power." 

Indeed  it  would  seem  that  in  the  very  age  of  Con- 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  115 

stantine,  and  by  Constantine  himself,  this  amazing  revo- 
lution was  regarded  as  a  fulfilment  of  the  prediction  be- 
fore us  ;  for,  as  that  emperor  after  his  conversion  ceased 
to  be  a  constituent  member  and  minister  of  the  mystical 
Dragon,  but  vigorously  fought  against  him  in  the  person 
of  his  adherents,  it  is  remarkable  that  in  a  letter  to  Eu- 
sebius  he  says  :  "  But  now  when  liberty  is  restored, 
and  that  Dragon,  by  the  providence  of  the  great  God 
and  our  ministry  cast  out  from  the  administration  of 
public  affairs,  the  Divine  potency  has  most  manifestly 
appeared  to  all  men."*  It  is  related  moreover  by  the 
ecclesiastical  historian  above  mentioned,  that  on  a  lofty 
tablet  set  up  over  the  gate  of  his  palace,  visible  to  every 
eye,  Constantine  himself  was  represented  with  a  cross 
over  his  head,  and  under  his  feet  '  the  great  enemy  of 
mankind,  who  persecuted  the  church  by  means  of  im- 
pious tyrants,  in  the  form  of  a  Dragon,^  transfixed 
through  the  body  with  a  dart,  and  falling  into  the  depths 
of  the  sea  ;  *  in  allusion,'  he  adds,  '  to  the  fact,  that  the 
divine  oracles  in  the  books  of  the  prophets  denominate 
that  evil  spirit  the  Dragon  and  the  Crooked  Serpent,''^ 
The  following  passage  from  the  Historian  of  the  Decline 
and  Fall,  so  often  an  unwitting  and  unwilling  expositor 
of  the  Apocalypse,  may  be  advantageously  cited  in  this 
connection  : — "  The  assurance  that  the  elevation  of  Con- 
stantine was  intimately  connected  with  the  designs  of 
Providence,  instilled  into  the  minds  of  the  Christians 


*  — '• Tov  SpaKovTos  tKcivov  aiTo  Trji  rdv  Koivdv  iioiKrjaeoJi,  rov  Qeov  neyia- 

Tov  irpovotq,  fjixsTipqi  6c  vKeprjalq,  iK6iu)xdivT0f. — Eus.  de  Vita  Const.  1.  2. 
&46. 

{•  rdv 6e  txOpiv  KM  TToXeiilov  dfipa,  TOV  r^v  CKkXriatav  rbv  Qeiv  Sid  t^S 

rwv  aOsSiv  noXiopK/jiavra  rvpavvtdosy — 'cv  SpaKdvros  i^-op(pr]. — Id.  1.  3.  c.  3, 


116  TREATISE  ON 

two  opinions,  which,  by  very  different  means,  assisted 
the  accomplishment  of  the  prophecy.  Their  warm  and 
active  loyalty  exhausted  in  his  favour  every  resource  of 
human  industry ;  and  they  confidently  expected  that 
their  strenuous  efforts  icould  he  seconded  by  some  divine 
and  miraculous  aid.^^* — "Nazarius  and  Eusebius  are 
the  two  most  celebrated  orators,  who  in  studied  pane- 
gyrics have  laboured  to  exalt  the  glory  of  Constantine. 
Nine  years  after  the  Roman  victory,  Nazarius  describes 
an  army  of  divine  warriors  who  seemed  to  fall  from 
the  sky  :  he  marks  their  beauty,  their  spirit,  their  gigan- 
tic forms,  the  stream  of  light  which  beamed  from  their 
celestial  armor,  their  patience  in  suffering  themselves  to 
be  heard,  as  well  as  seen,  by  mortals  ;  and  their  decla- 
ration that  they  were  sent,  that  they  flew,  to  the  assist- 
ance of  the  great  Constantine.  For  the  truth  of  this 
great  prodigy,  the  pagan  orator  appeals  to  the  whole 
Gallic  nation,  in  whose  presence  he  was  then  speaking ; 
and  seems  to  hope  that  the  ancient  apparitions  would 
now  obtain  credit  from  this  recent  and  public  event."! 
— "  The  gratitude  of  the  church  has  exalted  the  virtues 
and  excused  the  failings  of  a  generous  patron,  who  seated 
Christianity  on  the  throne  of  the  Roman  world ;  and 
the  Greeks,  who  celebrate  the  festival  of  the  imperial 
saint,  seldom  mention  the  name  of  Constantine  without 
adding  the  title  of  equal  to  the  apostles.  If  the  parallel 
be  confined  to  the  extent  and  number  of  their  evangelic 
victories,  the  success  of  Constantine   might  perhaps 

•  Decl.  and  Fall,  p.  294. 
t  Id.  p.  297. 


THE    MILLENNIUM*  117 

equal  that  of  the  apostles  themselves.  By  the  edicts  of 
toleration  he  removed  the  temporal  disadvantages  which 
had  hitherto  retarded  the  progress  of  Christianity  ;  and 
its  active  and  numerous  ministers  received  a  free  per- 
mission, a  liberal  encouragement,  to  recommend  the 
salutary  truths  of  revelation  by  every  argument  which 
could  affect;  the  reason  or  piety  of  mankind."* 

"  He  was  cast  out  into  the  earth  and  his  angels  were 
cast  out  with  him."  These  words  are  thus  explained 
by  Tertullian  ; — "  Nam  dasmonia  magistratus  sunt  sec- 
uli  hujus" — -for  the  demons  are  the  magistrates  of  this 
world.  As  the  Dragon  himself  has  a  more  special 
reference  to  the  person  of  the  Pagan  Roman  emperors, 
the  subordinate  magistrates  are  unquestionably  denoted 
by  his  angels.  "  The  fall  of  the  empire,"  says  Daubuz, 
"  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Heathens  soon  made  all  the 
inferior  officers,  civil  and  military,  as  also  the  religious 
dignities,  to  fall  out  of  their  power.  Yet  this  was  not 
done  on  a  sudden,  but  by  progress :  however,  it  is 
the  custom  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  account  any  thing 
done,  for  the  most  part,  as  soon  as  it  is  begun  ;  the  little 
time  it  lasts  in  doing  being  accounted  as  nothing.  When 
the  emperors  were  no  more  heathens,  the  idolatrous 
magistrates  were  in  a  great  measure  removed,  and  the 


»  Dec!,  and  Fall,  p.  2«9.  The  whole  of  Gibbon's  21st  chap- 
ter contains  a  striking  undesigned  commentary  upon  this  vision 
of  the  Apocalypse.  Indeed  the  Christian  church  has  afforded 
few  expositors  of  the  Book  of  Revelation  so  valuable  as  Gib- 
bon. We  shall  therefore  make  great  use  of  his  work  in  our 
attempted  exposition.  Like  Balaam  he  is  made  to  bless,  while 
his  own  spirit  prompts  him  to  curse. 
L 


118  TREATISE  ON 

priests  had  no  more  power  to  do  mischief.  It  (the  mis- 
chief) only  extended  where  the  Dragon  and  his  angels 
were  thrown,  that  is,  upon  '  the  earth,'  upon  the  subjects 
of  the  Roman  empire,  who  are  still  their  votaries  :  the 
*  earth'  having  that  signification ;  the  Christians,  unless 
corrupted,  never  bearing  that  title.  The  idolatrous 
religion  only  remained  in  the  subjects  or  common 
peopled*  This  is  what  is  to  be  understood  by  the 
Dragon's  being  '  cast  out  into  the  earth.'  The  scene 
of  his  operations  was  to  be  shifted.  He  had  formerly 
been  the  ruling  spirit  of  the  pagan  governments  of  the 
world,  and  of  the  Roman  in  particular,  but  now,  being 
ejected  from  his  imperial  ascendency,  the  great  mass  of 
the  'people  of  the  empire,  represented  by  the  '  earth,' 
became  the  subjects  of  his  diabolical  plots.  It  is  in  the 
prospective  view  of  this  that  the  heavenly*  host  is  rep- 
resented as  announcing  his  disastrous  advent  to  the 
earth.  "  Woe  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  and  the 
sea,  for  the  devil  is  come  down  unto  you,  having  great 
wrath,  because  he  knoweth  he  hath  but  a  short  time." 
— "The  earth  and  the  sea,"  says  the  commentator 
above  quoted,  "signify  the  subjects  of  the  pagan  empire 
both  in  peace  and  war,  the  common  people  and  the  sol- 
diery. Many  of  them  were  still  idolaters ;  as  appears 
sufficiently  by  their  canonizing  their  emperors,  though 
Christians.  Many  of  them  seemed  indeed  to  turn 
Christian,  but  not  sincerely ;  ehher  they  secretly  ob- 
served the  pagan  rites,  or  else  brought  theii*  paganism 
into  the  church  and  corrupted  it.     However,  the  Devil 

*  Daubuz'  Perpet.  Comment,  p.  532. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  119 

played  still  his  pranks  among  them  while  they  continued 
to  be  votaries.  It  was  but  small  power  and  dominion 
compared  with  the  imperial  power,  but  still  it  was  some 
dominion ;  and  he  had  rather  play  at  small  game  than 
not  at  all.  All  this  denotes  that  the  idolatry  would  not 
be  so  far  expelled  suddenly,  but  that  it  would  still  re- 
main amongst  a  great  number  of  the  subjects."* 

"The  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast  down."  The 
Dragon,  as  we  have  remarked,  is  the  personified  spirit 
of  civil  oppression  and  idolatrous  delusion  combined. 
As  such,  his  grand  aim  has  ever  been  to  render  the  peo- 
ple of  God,  the  seed  of  the  woman,  obnoxious  to  the 
civil  power,  and  upon  the  pretence  of  their  being  ene- 
mies to  the  governments,  laws,  and  institutions  under 
which  they  lived,  to  point  the  sword  of  magistracy 
against  them.  The  allusion  is  perhaps  primarily  to 
the  history  of  Job,  jigainst  whom  the  foulest  accusations 
were  brought  by  Satan,  prompted  by  the  pure  diabolism 
of  his  nature,  and  to  the  instance  related,  Zech.  3.  1. 
where  the  prophet  says; — 'And  he  showed  me  Joshua 
the  high-priest  standing  before  the  Angel  of  the  Lord, 
and  Satan  standing  at  his  right  hand  to  resist  him.'j 
But  the  character  was  made  good  and  the  symbol  ac- 
complished in  repeated  instances  in  the  events  of  the 
sacred  history  both  under  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment. How  copiously  the  Dragon,  through  his  Egyp- 
tian head,  expectorated  the  venom  of  his  vile  detraction 
upon  the  unoffending  Israelites,  and  what  grinding  op- 

*  Perpet.  Comment,  p.  536. 

t  The  literal  meaning  of  the  original  Greek  word  rendered 
devil  (Sia/ioxot)  is  slanderer^  traducer,  false  accuser. 


i20  TREATISE  ON 

pression  he  brought  upon  them  by  this  means,  is  obvious 
from  the  Mosaic  narrative.  The  following  passages, 
moreover,  are  strikingly  illustrative  of  the  same  spirit 
of  malignant  defamation  against  the  innocent.  Ezra, 
4.  12-16.  '  Be  it  known  now  unto  the  king,  that  the 
Jews  which  came  up  from  thee  to  us  are  come  unto 
Jerusalem,  building  the  rebellious  and  the  bad  city,  and 
have  set  up  the  walls  thereof,  and  joined  the  founda- 
tions.— Now  because  we  have  maintenance  from  the 
king's  palace,  and  it  was  not  meet  for  us  to  see  the 
king's  dishonour,  therefore  have  we  sent  and  certified 
the  king ;  That  search  may  be  made  in  the  book  of  the 
records  of  thy  fathers;  so  shalt  thou  find  in  the  book  of 
the  records,  and  know  that  this  city  is  a  rebellious  city, 
and  hurtful  unto  kings  and  provinces,  and  that  they 
have  moved  sedition  within  the  same  of  old  time  r  for 
which  cause  Avas  this  city  destroyed.*  Again,  Est.  d. 
8.  'And  Ilaman  said  unto  King  Ahasuerus,  There  is  a 
certain  people  scattered  abroad,  and  dispersed  among 
the  people  in  all  the  provinces  of  thy  kingdom  ;  and 
their  laws  are  diverse  from  all  people,  neither  keep  they 
the  king's  laws  :  therefore  it  is  not  for  the  king's  profit 
to  suffer  them.  If  it  please  the  king,  let  it  be  written 
that  they  be  destroyed.'  Acts,  16.  20,  21.  'And 
brought  them  to  the  magistrates,  saying.  These  men 
being  Jews  do  exceedingly  trouble  our  city,  and  teach 
customs  which  are  not  lawful  for  us  to  receive,  neither 
to  observe,  being  Romans.'  Acts,  17.  6,  7.  '  These 
that  have  turned  the  world  upside  down  are  come  hither 
also  ;  Whom  Jason  hath  received :  and  these  all  do 
contrary  to  the  decrees  of  Cajsar,  saying  that  tliere  m 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  121 

another  king,  one  Jesus.'     How  plainly  do  we  hear 
the  hissings  of  the  Old  Serpent  in  these  accusations ! 

But  it  was  at  a  later  period  of  the  church  that  the 
Dragon  more  signally  evinced  himself  to  be  entitled  to 
this  character.  Ecclesiastical  history  makes  it  evident 
that  the  vilest  calumnies  were  cast  upon  the  primitive 
Christians,  upon  which  their  persecutors  professed  to 
ground  the  justice  of  the  punishments  so  mercilessly 
inflicted  upon  them.  They  were  accused  of  cannibal- 
ism, incest,  adultery,  murder,  conspiracy,  and  of  being 
the  procuring  causes  of  all  the  plagues,  famines,  and 
fires  which  desolated  any  part  of  the  empire.  "  The 
surprise  of  the  Pagans,"  says  Gibbon,  "  was  soon  suc- 
ceeded by  resentment ;  and  the  most  pious  of  men 
were  exposed  to  the  unjust  but  dangerous  imputation 
of  impiety.  Malice  and  prejudice  concurred  in  repre- 
senting the  Christians  as  a  society  of  atheists,  who,  by 
the  most  daring  atlack  upon  the  religious  constitution  of 
the  empire,  had  merited  the  severest  animadversion  of  the 
civil  magistrate.  Their  mistaken  prudence  afforded  an 
opportunity  for  malice  to  invent,  and  for  suspicious  cre- 
dulity to  believe,  the  horrid  tales  which  described  the 
Christians  as  the  most  wicked  of  human  kind,  who 
practised  in  their  dark  recesses  every  abomination  that 
a  depraved  fancy  could  suggest,  and  who  solicited  the 
favour  of  their  unknown  God  by  the  sacrifice  of  every 
moral  virtue.  There  were  many  who  pretended  to 
confess  or  to  relate  the  ceremonies  of  this  abhorred 
society.  It  was  asserted,  that  a  new-born  infant,  en- 
tirely covered  over  with  flour,  was  presented,  like  some 
mystic  symbol  of  initiation,  to  the  knife  of  the  proselyte, 
L2 


122  TREATISE    ON 

who  unknowingly  inflicted  many  a  secret  and  mortal 
wound  on  the  innocent  victim  of  his  error ;  that  as  soom 
as  the  cruel  deed  was  perpetrated,  the  sectaries  drank 
up  the  blood,  greedily  tore  asunder  the  quivering  mem" 
bers,  and  pledged  themselves  to  eternal  secrecy,  by  a 
mutual  consciousness  of  guilt.  It  was  as  confidently 
affirmed  that  this  inhuman  sacrifice  was  succeeded  by  a 
suitable  entertainment,  in  which  intemperance  served  as 
a  provocative  to  brutal  lust,  till,  at  the  appointed  mo- 
ment, the  lights  were  suddenly  extinguished,  shame  was 
banished,  nature  was  forgotten,  and,  as  accident  might 
direct,  the  darkness  of  the  night  was  polluted  by  the 
incestuous  commerce  of  sisters  and  brothers,  of  sons 
and  mothers."*  The  conversion  of  Constantine  and 
the  downfall  of  Paganism,  was  the  signal  for  the  silen- 
cing of  these  shameless  slanders,  and  accordingly  Lac^ 
tantius,  in  an  epistle  to  the  emperor,  says  ; — "  Whence 
they  form  the  most  execrable  opinions  respecting  the 
chaste  and  the  innocent,  and  give  an  easy  belief  to  the 
fictions  which  they  fabricate.  But  all  these  false 
charges,  most  sacred  emperor,  are  laid  to  rest  since  the 
high  God  raised  thee  up  to  restore  the  habitation  of 
righteousness,  and  to  the  guardianship  of  the  human 
race  ;  under  whose  government  of  the  Roman  state  we 
are  no  longer  accounted  as  impious  and  abominable,  biit 
as  the  worshippers  of  God.^f 

*  Decl.  and  Fall,  p.  208. 

t  Unde  etiam  quasdam  execrabiles  opinionos  de  pudicis,  et 
innocenlibus  fingunt,  et  libentur  his,  quae  finxcerunt,  credunt. 
Sed  omnia  jam,  sanctissiine  imperator,  figmenta  sopita  suni, 
ex  quo  te  Deus  Sunimus  ad  restituendum  justitiae  domiciliuro,, 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  123 

**  And  to  the  woman  were  given  two  wings  of  a  great 
eagle,  that   she  might   fly  into    the   wilderness,"  &c. 

*  Wings,'  the  instruments  of  motion,  answer  in  prophecy 
the  superadded  purpose  of  standing  as  symbols  of  pro- 
tection. This  is  plam  from  the  folJowing,  among  nume- 
rous other  passages.  Ruth,  2.  12,  'The  Lord  recom- 
pense thy  work,  and  a  full  reward  be  given  thee  of  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel,  under  whose  wings  thou  art  come 
to  trust.''  Ps.  17.  8.  '  Keep  me  as  the  apple  of  the 
eye,  hide  me  under  the  shadow  of  thy  wings.''    Ps.  57.  1. 

*  In  the  shadow  of  thy  wings  will  I  make  my  refuge^ 
until  the  secalamities  be  overpast.'  Ps.  63.  7.  '  Because 
thou  hast  been  my  help,  therefore  in  the  shadow  of  thy 
wings  will  I  rejoice.'  The  imagery  is  manifestly 
derived  from  the  history  in  Exodus  where  the  sojourn 
of  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness  from  the  face  of  the 
Egyptians  is  described  very  much  after  the  same  manner 
as  the  withdrawment  of  the  woman  into  the  spiritual 
wilderness  from  the  face  of  the  serpent.     Ex.  19.  4. 

*  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did  unto  the  Egyptians,  and  how 
I  bare  you  on  eagles'  wings  and  brought  you  unto  my- 
self.' This  is  enlarged  upon,  Deut.  32.  11,  12.  'As 
an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young, 
spreadeth  abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth  them 
on  her  wings  ;  so  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and 
there  was  no  strange  God  with  him.'  As  the  '  eagle' 
is  a  symbol  frequently  used  in  the  Scriptures  to 
denote  a  monarchy  or  a  king»  and  as  the  eagle,  the  bird 

et  ad  tutetam  generis  humani  excitavit.  Quo  gubernante  Ro- 
manae  Reipublicas  statum,  jam  cultores  Dei  pro  secleratis  ae 
nefariis  non  habemur. — Lact.  Inst.  L.  VII.  c.  2G. 


124  TREATISE  ON 

of  Jove,  formed  the  Roman  standard,  we  seem  to  be 
directed,  by  the  necessity  of  the  symbol,  to  understand 
it  of  the  Roman  Empire  subsisting  in  its  two  grand 
divisions,  the  Eastern  and  Western,  and  in  this  form 
spreading  the  wings  of  its  imperial  patronage  over  the 
church,  guarding  it  from  visible  persecution,  during  the 
interval  between  the  fall  of  Paganism  and  the  rise  of 
Antichristianism  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  century.  But 
the  drift  of  the  emblem  undoubtedly  involves  the  idea  of 
transition  as  well  as  of  tutelage^  and  leads  us  to  seek 
for  some  kind  of  recess  or  withdrawment  on  the  part  of 
the  true  church  from  the  more  central,  prominent,  and 
conspicuous  station  which  she  had  hitherto  occupied. 
The  explication  of  this  part  of  the  mystical  scenery 
given  by  Vitringa,*  is  entitled  to  a  high  degree  of  con- 
sideration. He  is  of  opinion  that  the  emblem  was  de- 
signed to  shadow  forth  a  literal  migration  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  church,  or  a  transfer  of  the  seat  of  its 
primitive  triumphs,  from  the  eastern  quarters  of  the 
empire,  where  it  hitherto  principally  flourished,  to  the 
then  barbarous  and  uncultivated  climes  of  western  and 
northwestern  Europe,  especially  France,  Spain,  Ger- 
many, England,  Holland,  Bohemia,  Hungary  and  Den- 
mark, where  it  was  destined  to  find  a  permanent  though 
afflicted  establishment  during  the  period  of  the  grand 
apostacy  under  the  reign  of  the  Beast.  Accordingly 
we  learn  from  the  ecclesiastical  annals  of  that  and  the 
subsequent  ages,  that  by  the  peculiar  providence  of  God, 
a  line  of  faithful  witnesses  for  the  truth  was  preserved, 

*  Anacrisis  Apocalypseos,  p.  556, 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  125 

especially  in  the  retired  and  peaceful  valleys  of  Pied- 
mont and  Dauphiny,  where  the  far-famed  churches  of 
the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  continued  for  more  than 
twelve  centuries  the  conservators  of  the  unadulterated 
faith  of  the  Apostles.*  The  protection  indicated  by 
the  eagle's  wings  is  to  be  considered  as  having  been 
afforded  more  especially  at  the  commencement  of  this 
long  period,  while  the  woman  was  in  the  act  of  flying 
into  the  wilderness  ;  for  after  she  had  become  firmly 
established  in  her  desert  abode,  she  became  the  object 
of  the  persecuting  rage  both  of  the  civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical power  of  the  apostate  church.  It  was  therefore 
by  the  peculiar  interposition  of  heaven  that  this  mystic 
woman  of  the  wilderness  was  protected  and  '  nourished' 
in  her  lonely  dwelling  place.  A  succession  of  faithful 
pastors  was  raised  up  to  minister  the  spiritual  aliment 
of  the  gospel  to  t^ese  eremite  churches,  embosomed  in 
their  Alpine  glens,  during  the  whole  prophetical  period 
of  the  '  time,  times,  and  half  a  time,'  or  1260  years, 
'when  the  occurrence  of  the  Reformation  gave  them  a 
door  of  egress  from  their  obscurity,  and  they  became 
merged  in  the  great  body  of  Protestant  believers. 

"  And  the  serpent  cast  out  of  his  mouth  water  as  a 
flood  after  the  woman,"  &;c.  Of  the  import  of  seasj 
rivers,  and  water-floods  as  a  prophetic  symbol  we  have 

♦  "  The  Vaudois  are  in  fact  descended  from  those  refugees 
from  Italy,  who,  after  St.  Paul  had  there  preached  the  Gospel, 
abandoned  their  beautiful  country,  and  fled,  like  the  woman 
mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse,  to  these  wild  mountains,  where 
they  have  to  this  day  handed  down  the  Gospel  from  father  to 
son  in  the  same  purity  and  simplicity  as  it  was  preached  by  St. 
Paul." — Pref.  to  Arnaud's  Glorious  Recovery,  p.  13,  14. 


126  TREATISE    ON 

an  inspired  exposition  in  the  words  of  the  hierophantic 
angel,  Rev.  17.  15.  '  And  he  saith  unto  me,  The 
waters  which  thou  sawest  where  the  whore  sitteth,  are 
peoples,  and  multitudes,  and  nations,  and  tongues.' 
This  is  confirmed  by  the  usage  of  the  ancient  prophets. 
Is.  8.  7.  '  Now  therefore,  behold,  the  Lord  bringeth  up 
upon  them  the  waters  of  the  river,  strong  and  many, 
even  the  King  of  Assyria  and  all  his  glory.'  This  is 
plainly  the  annunciation  of  a  warlike  expedition  which 
under  the  conduct  of  the  King  of  Assyria  should  over- 
flow the  land.  Is.  28.  2.  *  Behold  the  Lord  hath  a 
mighty  and  strong  one,  which  as  a  tempest  of  hail  and 
a  destroying  storm,  as  a  flood  of  mighty  waters  over- 
flowing, shall  cast  down  to  the  earth  with  the  hand  ;' 
thus  explained  by  the  Targum,  which  is  of  great  value 
in  the  explication  of  prophetic  symbols  : — '  Sicut  im- 
petus aquarum  forthim  inundantium,  sic  venient  contra 
COS  populi,  et  transferent  eos  de  terra  sua' — Like  the 
violence  of  mighty  overflowing  floods  shall  peoples 
come  against  them  and  remove  them  from  their  own  land. 
To  the  same  effect  Jeremiah  ch.  46.  7,  8.  says,  '  Who 
is  this  that  cometh  up  as  a  flood,  whose  waters  are 
moved  as  the  river?  Egypt  riseth  up  like  a  flood,  and 
his  waters  are  moved  like  the  rivers ;  and  he  saith,  I 
will  go  up  and  will  cover  the  earth  ;  I  will  destroy  the 
city  and  the  inhabitants  thereof.'  Again,  in  Dan.  9.  26. 
*a  flood'  is  expressly  interpreted  as  equivalent  to  'war.' 
'And  the  end  thereof  shall  be  with  a  flood,  and  unto 
the  end  of  the  war  desolations  are  determined.'  The 
river-flood  therefore,  sent  forth  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Dragon  to  drown  the  woman,  signifies  beyond  question 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  127 

the  invasion  of  the  territories  of  Christendom  or  the 
Roman  empire  by  numerous  armies  of  foreign  nations, 
whose  assault  was  in  some  manner  instigated  by  the 
malice  of  the  Pagan  party,  the  ministers  of  the  Dragon. 
The  figurative  prediction  was  accomplished  when  the 
hordes  of  barbarous  nations  from  the  north  of  Europe, 
the  Goths,  Alans,  Suevi,  and  Vandals,  by  the  secret 
treachery  of  Stilicho,  prime  minister  to  the  emperor 
Honorius,  were  invited  to  pour  themselves  down  in 
desolating  torrents  upon  the  southern  provinces  of  the 
empire.  But  what  was  the  result  of  the  incursions 
made  by  these  rude  and  ruthless  barbarians  1  *  The 
earth,'  says  the  prophet,  *  helped  the  woman,  and  the 
earth  opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed  up  the  flood 
which  the  dragon  cast  out  of  his  mouth.'  That  is, 
these  barbarian  and  pagan  nations  were  absorbed  into 
the  original  population  of  the  Roman  provinces.  They 
not  only  embraced  their  religion,  but  aflfected  the  laws, 
manners,  customs,  language,  and  even  name  of  Romans, 
so  that  they  were  in  effect  completely  merged  in  the 
vanquished  nation.  Instead  of  sweeping  away  the 
Christian  church,  they  eventually  fell  into  the  ranks  of 
her  nominal  supporters,  and  thus  contributed  to  prolong 
and  perpetuate  her  existence.  "  The  progress  of 
Christianity,"  says  Gibbon,  "  has  been  marked  by  two 
glorious  and  decisive  victories:  over  the  learned  and 
luxurious  citizens  of  the  Roman  empire ;  and  over  the 
warlike  barbarians  of  Scythia  and  Germany,  who  sub- 
verted the  empire,  and  embraced  the  religion,  of  the 
Romans.  The  formidable  Visigoths  universally  adopted 
the  religion  of  the  Romans,  with  whom  they  maintained 


128  TREATISE    ON 

a  perpetual  intercourse  of  war,  of  friendship,  or  of 
conquest.  During  the  same  period,  Christianity  was 
embraced  by  almost  all  the  barbarians  who  established 
their  kingdoms  on  the  ruins  of  the  western  empire ;  the 
Burgundians  in  Gaul,  the  Suevi  in  Spain,  the  Vandals 
in  Africa,  the  Ostrogoths  in  Pannonia,  and  the  various 
bands  of  mercenaries  that  raised  Odoacer  to  the  throne 
of  Italy."*  "  In  the  course  of  a  very  few  years,"  says 
Mr.  Faber,  "  the  religion  of  Christ  had  more  or  less 
pervaded  the  whole  Roman  empire.  Succeeding  events 
seemed  to  threaten  if  not  its  absolute  extinction,  yet,  at 
least,  its  contraction  within  its  original  narrow  limits. 
But  the  result  was  very  opposite  of  what,  by  political 
sagacity,  might  reasonably  have  been  anticipated.  The 
religion  of  the  conquering  Goths  was,  in  every  instance, 
nationally  abandoned ;  the  religion  of  the  conquered 
Romans  was,  in  every  instance^  nationally  adopted. 
Some  of  the  northern  warriors  might  be  earlier,  and 
some  might  be  later  proselytes  :  but  the  ultimate  uni- 
versal concomitant  of  Gothic  national  invasion  was 
Gothic  national  conversion,'''' 

"  And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with  the  woman,  and 
went  to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seed,"  &;c. 
The  course  of  our  preceding  exposition  has  conducted 
us  in  tracing  the  history  of  despotic  and  idolatrous  op- 
pression from  its  earliest  origin  down  to  the  time  of  the 
public  and  incipient  suppression  of  Paganism,  A.  D. 
320,  and  for  the  space  of  one  or  two  centuries  beyond. 
The  Dragon  or  the  Devil  was  now  ejected  from  his 

*  Decl.  and  Fall,  p.  609,  610. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  12'9 

strongholds ;  he  was  cast  from  heaven  to  earth ;  but 
his  draconic  nature  still  remained.  He  was  urged  on 
by  the  same  desperate  and  fiendish  malignity  as  ever 
against  the  true  sons  of  freedom,  the  inheritors  of  that 
legacy  of  civil  and  evangelic  liberty  which  the  Savior 
bequeathed  to  his  followers.  He  was  still  wroth  with 
the  woman,  and  intent  upon  warring  with  the  remnant 
of  her  seed.  But  it  had  now  become  necessary  for  him 
to  change  the  mode  of  his  warfare.  The  entire  Roman 
empire,  forming  the  principal  part  of  the  civilized 
world,  having  now  assumed  a  Christian  phasis,  he  felt 
himself  compelled  to  modify  his  persecuting  tactics  so 
as  to  adapt  them  to  the  new  circumstances  in  which  he 
was  placed.  Accordingly,  finding  the  Roman  world  be- 
come Christian,  he  determines  to  become  Christian  too, 
and  under  the  name  and  semblance  of  Christianity  to 
uproot  the  very  life  and  being  of  that  divine  religion 
from  the  earth.  He  lays,  therefore,  one  of  his  deepest, 
and  foulest,  and  most  devilish  plots ;  a  stratagem  redo- 
lent of  the  Serpent,  and  instinct. with  the  profoundest 
policies  of  hell.  This  is  represented  as  consisting  in  a 
kind  of  symbolical  metempsychosis  or  transmigration, 
in  which  the  Dragon  becomes  the  actuating  spirit  of 
another  scarcely  less  baneful  power.  Conscious  of 
being  forced  to  withdraw  in  his  own  proper  person  from 
the  scene  in  which  he  had  so  long  reigned. '  lord  of  the 
ascendant,'  he  resolves  upon  protruding  upon  the  va- 
cated stage  another  agent  who  should  act  as  his  vice- 
gerent, and  into  whom  he.  determines  to  .transfuse  .Jhe 
full  measure  of  his  own  Satanic  spirit  and  genius. 
This  was  no  other  than  the  seven-headed  and  ten-horned 
M 


130  TREATISE    ON 

Beast  that  arose  out  of  the  sea.  It  is  through  him  as 
an  instrument  that  he  resolves  to  prosecute  his  war 
against  the  woman's  seed.  We  may  imagine  therefore 
the  Dragon  of  Paganism,  when  baffled  in  his  previous 
designs,  walking,  like  the  hero  of  the  Iliad,  silent  and 
thoughtful  on  the  shore  of  the  loud-sounding  deep,  or 
rather,  perhaps,  since  the  '  sea'  in  the  Apocalypse  is 
the  symbol  of  multitudes  of  men  in  a  state  of  commo- 
tion, as  plunging  into  its  abysses,  and  there  secretly 
busying  himself  in  getting  up  and  sending  forth  this  his 
portentous  substitute,  destined  to  supply  his  lack  of  dis- 
astrous service  in  working  woe  to  the  nations.  "  And  I 
stood  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea,  and  I  saw  a  beast  rise 
up  out  of  the  sea,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns, 
and  upon  his  horns  ten  crowns,  and  upon  his  heads  the 
names  of  blasphemy.  And  the  dragon  gave  him  his 
power,  and  his  seat  (Opovov — throne),  and  great  author- 
ity." Here  is  the  act  of  abdication  on  the  Dragon's 
part,  and  of  investiture  on  that  of  the  Beast.  The 
Beast  therefore  acts  by  a  delegated  power.  He  comes 
forth  as  the  commissioned  organ  and  agent  of  the  prime 
originator  of  moral  and  political  ill  to  the  nations  of 
Christendom.  This  is  no  other  than  the  same  Roman 
empire  metamorphosed  into  a  nominally  Christian 
dominion,  and  subsisting  in  its  decem-regal  form,  when 
divided  and  split  up  into  ten  independent  sovereignties, 
though  still  preserving  an  ecclesiastical  unity,  out  of 
which  arose  the  present  dominant  kingdoms  of  Europe, 
who  are  said  to  have  agreed,  at  an  early  period,  to  give 
their  power  to  the  Beast.* 

*  Thus  Horace,  speaking  of  the  Roman  people,  says  ; 
•  Bellua  multorum  es  capitum.' 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  131 

It  would  be  altogether  beside  our  present  purpose  to 
enter  upon  a  detailed  exposition  of  the  allegorical 
Beast,  the  symbol  of  the  collective  body  of  the  present 
leading  European  dynasties.  We  advert  to  the  emblem 
only  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  illustrate  the  char- 
acter, actions,  or  fortunes  of  his  predecessor,  the 
Dragon.  It  may  be  proper,  however,  to  observe,  that 
a  prophetic  limitation  of  the  reign  of  the  Beast  is  un- 
doubtedly contained  in  the  compass  of  the  Revelation. 
Those  upon  whom  his  brutal  and  bestial  violence,  his 
grinding  and  wasting  oppression  was  specially  to  fall, 
were  to  be  given  into  his  hand  *  until  a  time,  times,  and 
half  a  time,'  or  for  the  space  of  1 260   years  ;*  and 

*  "  The  original  word  which  we  translate  a  time,  properly 
rsignifies  any  stated,  fixed,  or  appointed  time  or  season.  It  is 
therefore  made  use  of,  Lev.  23.  4.  to  denote  those  annual  feasts 
which  were  every  ye»r  fixed  to  one  stated  periodical  revolu- 
tion. And  therefore  may  be  understood  in  that  place  to  sig- 
nify the  time  of  the  periodical  revolutions  of  the  annual  festi- 
vals, or  a  year ;  and  accordingly  the  prophet  Daniel,  ch.  4.  16. 
23.  25.  makes  use  of  the  expression  of  seven  times  to  denote 
seven  years.  And  therefore  in  ch.  11.  13.  Daniel  in  order  to 
explain  it,  says  the  king  of  the  north  shall  certainly  return,  and 
shall  come  at  the  end  of  times,  even  years  ;  as  it  is  in  the  origi- 
nal, though  we  translate  it,  after  certain  years.  And  Justin 
Martyr,  in  his  dialogue  with.  Trypho  the  Jew,  remarks,  that 
the  Rabbins  understood  the  word  time  to  denote  a  year,  accord- 
ing to  the  language  of  the  prophets.  So  that,  according  to  this 
interpretation,  a  time,  times,  and  half  a  time,  or  one  year  added 
to  two  years  and  a  half,  will  be  three  years  and  a  half.  And  as 
a  Jewish  year  is  supposed  to  consist  of  twelve  months  ;  and 
each  month  of  thirty  days,  then  a  time,  times^  and  half  a  time^ 
or  three  times  and  a  half,  will  be  equivalent  to  1260  days  ;  as 
we  shall   find  it  exactly  computed  to  be,  when  we  come  to 


132  TREATISE    on' 

though  the  precise  epoch  of  the  commencement  of  that 
period  may  be  difficult  to  be  determined,  yet  we  cannot 
err  very  widely  in  fixing  it  between  the  years  450  and 
600 ;  and  in  a  matter  of  this  nature  to  come  within  a 
century  of  the  truth  may  be  considered  a  sufficient  ap- 
proximation for  all  important  purposes.     Consequently, 
that  we  are  now  actually  arrived  at  the  very  borders  of 
that  period  which  is  to  be  signalized  by  the  winding  up 
of  the  grand  despotic   drama  that  has   been  for  ages 
enacting  in  transatlantic  Christendom,  there  cannot  be 
the  shadow  of  a  reasonable  doubt.     It  is  only  in  this 
fact  that  we  find  an  adequate  solution  of  the  phenomena 
which  are  now  displaying  themselves  on  so  broad  a; 
scale  in  the  political  heavens  and  earth  of  the  eastern 
continent.     These  commotions  are  to  be  regarded  in 
no  other  light  than  as  an  incipient  fulfilment  of  the  in- 
spired oracles,  predicting  the  utter  downfall  of  every 
system  of  government  and  religion  which  wars  upon 
the  liberties  of  mankind.     We  have  in  the  disclosures 
of  this  book  a  genuine  clew  to  the  recent  agitations  of 
all  the  monarchical  states  ;    agitations   arising   solely 
from  the  efforts  of  the  mass  of  the  people  to  struggle 
into  the  assertion  of  their  native  rights,  as  the  ancients 
fabled  the  earthquakes  to  be  occasioned  by  the  attempts 
of  the  imprisoned  giants  to  throw  off  the  superincumbent 
mountains  heaped  upon  them. 

The  peculiar  manner  in  which  the  foregoing  interpre- 

inquire  into  the  Revelation  of  St.  John,  where  a  time,  times^ 
and  half  a  time  is  mentioned  as  a  space  of  time  equivalent  to 
forty-two  months,  or  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty  daysJ* 
—  day  ton,  Bish.  of  Clogher's  Dissert,  on  Proph.  p.  79. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  133 

tation  is  made  to  bear  upon  the  subject  of  the  Millen- 
nium will  be  more  fully  disclosed  in  the  sequel.  A^ 
present  we  advert  for  a  moment  to  the  only  plausible 
objection  which,  as  far  as  we  are  able  to  perceive,  can 
be  urged  against  the  construction  put  in  the  preceding 
pages  upon  the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse. 

As  the  charge  given  to  John  in  the  outset  of  the 
mystical  visions  of  this  book  is  thus  worded, — "Write 
the  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  the  things  which 
are,  and  the  things  which  shall  be  hereafter," — it  may 
be  said,  That  this  division  of  the  contents  of  the  Reve- 
lation into  the  two  great  branches  of  things  present  and 
things  future,  necessarily  forbids  the  application  of  any 
of  the  symbols  to  events  that  were  long  since  past  at 
the  time  of  the  writing  of  the  book,  and  consequently 
that  our  interpretation  of  the  symbol  of  the  Dragon, 
which  we  have  carried  up  to  the  remotest  ages  of  an- 
tiquity, must  neces'sarily  be  at  variance  with  the  acknow- 
ledged structure  of  the  apostle's  prophecy.  Tn  reply 
to  this  objection,  we  readily  admit  that  as  a  general 
character  of  the  Apocalypse  this  division  is  plainly  ob- 
served ;  the  three  first  chapters,  containing  the  epistles 
to  the  seven  churches,  having  a  primary  reference  to 
the  things  which  then  were,  while  the  subsequent  por- 
tions of  the  book  are  occupied  mainly  with  the  pros- 
pective developement  of  the  leading  fates  of  the  church 
and  the  world.  But  we  are  not  prepared  to  admit  the 
assumption,  that  nothing  but  prophetic  matter  can  be 
introduced  into  a  prophetic  vision.  For  what  was  the 
case  with  Daniel  ?  Did  he  behold  the  rise  of  the 
Roman  empire  prospectively  when  he  beheld  the  emer- 
M  2 


134  TREATISE    ON" 

gence  of  its  symbol  in  the  fourth  beast  from  the  troubled* 
sea?  Far  from  it.  He  beheld  it  retrospectively,  as 
his  vision  of  the  four  great  beasts  was  vouchsafed  tO' 
him  about  the  year  before  Christ  555  ;  but  Rome  was 
founded  according  to  Varro  in  the  year  before  Christ 
753  ;  so  that  the  prophet,  if  we  reckon  from  the  time 
when  he  saw  this  vision,  must  have  beheld  the  rise  of 
the  Roman  beast  retrospectively,  though  he  viewed  his 
exploits  through  the  period  of  1260  years  prospectively. 
In  like  manner,  we  consider  the  vision  in  the  chapter 
before  us  as  having  at  once  a  retrospective  and  a  pros- 
pective bearing,  in  which  respect  it  forms  an  exception 
to  the  general  tissue  of  the  res  prophetica  of  the  book, 
and,  we  believe,  the  only  exception.  But  as  the  main 
scope  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  this  part  of  the  visions  was 
to  acquaint  us  with  the  origin,  the  reign,  and  the  over- 
throw of  the  Beast,  nothing  could  be  more  natural  than 
to  trs^e  the  symbolical  extraction  of  the  Beast  from  the 
Dragon  his  predecessor,  and  if  the  Dragon  were  intro- 
duced at  all,  it  was  equally  natural  that  the  symbol 
should  be  so  constructed  as  to  embrace  the  whole  term 
of  his  hieroglyphic  existence,  however  far  back  into 
former  ages  it  might  reach.  The  truth  is,  if  the  view 
which  we  have  given  of  the  intended  mutual  relation 
of  the  Dragon  and  the  Beast  of  the  Apocalypse  be  well 
founded,  and  admitted  by  the  reader,  the  objection 
above  stated  can  occasion  na  real  difficulty.  The  fact 
which  it  contemplates  is  precisely  such  as  might  be 
expected.  Nor  will  a  single  exception  militate  with 
the  general  uniformity  of  character  by  which  the  oracles 
of  the  Apocalypse  are  marked. — One  or  two  reftectioniS 


-    THE    MILLENNIUM.  135 

may  not  unsuitably  conclude  the  present  division  of  our 
work. 

1.  The  train  of  remark  submitted  to  the  reader  in  the 
foregoing  exposition  may  have  the  effect,  it  is  presumed, 
of  deepening  the  conviction,  that  the  religion  of  the 
Bible  is  no  foe  to  civil  freedom ;  that  it  can  never  be 
made,  without  the  most  flagrant  perversion,  the  pander 
to  oppression  in  any  sense  or  in  any  degree.  That 
Christianity  has  been  made,  by  abuse,  an  engine  of  the 
most  dire  and  diabolical  persecution  is  unhappily  put 
beyond  the  possibility  of  being  questioned.  The  his- 
tory of  the  ages  of  darkness  furnishes  a  dreary  and 
soul-sickening  record  of  the  fact.  But  that  this  circum- 
stance affords  the  least  argument  of  the  legitimate  ten- 
dencies of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  cannot  be  maintained  for 
a  moment.  The  true  and  essential  genius  of  Christian- 
ity repudiates  with  mortal  abhorrence  every  alliance 
with  civil  power  which  would  convert  her  into  an  en- 
gine of  disastrous  domination.  Can  the  mystical  wo- 
man of  the  vision  fall  in  love  with  the  terrific  Dragon 
by  whom  she  is  assaulted  ?  Are  they  not  set  in  the 
most  direct  antagonism  with  each  other?  And  under 
this  significant  imagery  is  not  the  brandmark  of  eternal 
reprobation  set  upon  the  entire  apparatus  of  despotism  ? 
Is  not  its  final  overthrow,  its  utter  extinction,  clearly 
predicted  in  the  oracles  of  the  prophets  ? — and  that  too 
as  an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  the  final  prevalence 
of  the  Gospel  ?  How  then  can  Christianity  be  friendly 
to  or  compatible  with  a  system  upon  the  ruins  of  which 
it  is  destined  to  rise,  and  the  annihilation  of  which  is  the 
signal  of  its  own  success  ?     The  truth  is,  the  spirit  cf 


136  TREATISE    ON 

Christianity  is  not  more  opposed  to  vice  than  it  is  to 
vassalage  ;  to  moral  corruption  than  to  political  degra- 
dation. 

2.  Shall  not  a  more  favorable  impression  be  begotten 
in  behalf  of  Christianity  from  the  fact,  that  it  contem- 
plates man  not  merely  in  his  individual,  but  in  his  social 
capacities  and  interests  ? — that  in  the  amplitude  of  its 
beneficence  it  takes  cognizance  of  those  great  and  mas- 
sive calamities  which  vi^eigh  upon  the  welfare  of  so- 
ciety ;  which  have  encumbered  and  retarded  the  march 
of  the  human  mind  ;  which  have  hung  their  ponderous 
weights  upon  the  wheels  of  its  progress  ; — in  a  word> 
that  it  abounds  with  predictions  and  promises,  not  only 
of  the  removal  of  those  evils  which  encompass  and  an- 
noy the  individual  believer,  but  of  those  also  which  have 
been  the  most  signal  curses  to  the  communities  of  the 
earth  ?  We  repeat  it  then,  that  we  are  authorized  to 
regard  in  the  light  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  divine 
counsels  the  existing  commotions  which  are  causing  the 
dynasties  of  Europe  to  totter  on  their  rotten  bases,  and 
which  are  prompting  the  monarchs  to  clap  their  hands 
to  their  heads  to  hold  on  their  crowns.  Potentates  are 
perplexed  by  the  signs  in  heaven  and  the  signs  on  earth. 
But  why?  Simply  because  God  has  illustriously 
arisen,  and  begun  to  show  to  the  world  that  the  Gospel 
is  the  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation.  The  human 
race  is  awakening  to  the  conviction,  that  there  is  not  a 
throne  on  earth  but  is  built  upon  the  prostrate  liberties 
of  mankind ;  and  kings  have  cause  to  tremble  at  the 
results  of  the  discovery.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  they 
dread  to  refer  themselves  to  '  the  coming  on  of  time/ 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  137 

"  Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before,"  and  they 
are  filled  with  secret  apprehensions  of  an  impending 
stroke  which  shall  fall  with  resistless  weight  upon  the 
coronets  of  despots,  and  scatter  their  diamonds  in  the 
dust.  It  is  then  to  the  pages  of  this  precious  revelation 
that  we  are  to  look  for  a  key  to  the  signs  of  the  times ; 
for  a  solution  of  all  the  marvels  connected  with  that 
magnus  ordo  rerum,  that  stupendous  moral  and  political 
revolution,  which  is  so  rapidly  changing  the  face  of  hu- 
man affairs,  and  introducing  the  indestructible  empire  of 
righteousness.  It  is  on  this  account  only  that  we  deem 
the  explication  of  the  hieroglyphics  of  the  Apocalypse 
as  at  all  important.  Viewed  in  any  other  light  than  as 
affording  an  index  to  the  true  character  of  the  period  in 
which  we  live,  and  its  connected  duties,  we  might  as 
well  bestow  our  labour  in  laying  before  our  readers,  for 
the  purpose  of  comment,  the  imagery  of  the  Shield  of 
Achilles,  or  of  the  Zodiac  of  Dendera,  or  the  architec- 
tural details  of  Solomon's  Temple.  But  when  rightly 
construed,  the  mystic  shadows  of  the  Seer  of  Patmos 
resolve  themselves,  like  the  hand-writing  on  the  walls 
of  Belshazzar's  palace,  into  the  death-doom  of  despot- 
ism, and  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  liberties  of  the 
world. 


138  TREATISE    ON 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  TRUE    DOCTRINE  OF  THE    MILLENNIUM    STATED    AND 
CONFIRMED. 

The  Connection  of  the  twentieth  Chapter  of  the  Revelation 
with  the  preceding  portions  of  the  Book  stated — The  Identity 
of  the  Dragon  throughout  the  Apocalypse  maintained — The 
Binding  of  the  Dragon  explained — Its  date  determined — 
Confirmed  by  History — Particulars  of  the  symbolic  Imagery 
further  elucidated — Symbol  of  the  Bottomless  Pit  or  Abyss 
explained — Opinions  of  Lightfoot,  Turretin,  Mastricht,  and 
Marck  quoted — Satan's  deceiving  the  Nations  explained — 
Whether  the  Millennium  to  consist  of  a  thousand  literal 
years — Explication  of  the  Thrones,  and  of  the  Souls  of  the 
Martyrs  seen  in  the  Vision,  and  of  their  Living  and  Reigning 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years. 


REVELATION    CH.    XX. 

1.  And  I  saw  an  angel  come  clown  from  heaven, 
having  the  key  of  tl\e  bottomless  pit  and  a  great  chain 
in  his  hand.  2.  And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  that 
old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan,  and  bound 
him  a  thousand  years,  3.  And  cast  him  into  the  bot- 
tomless pit,  and  shut  him  up,  and  set  a  seal  upon  him, 
that  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more,  till  the  thou- 
sand years  should  be  fulfilled :  and  after  that  he  must 
be  loosed  a  little  season.     4.  And  I  saw  thrones,  and 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  139 

they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was  given  unto  them : 
and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the 
witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  which 
had  not  worshipped  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  neither 
had  received  his  mark  in  their  foreheads,  or  in  their 
hands  ;  and  they  Hved  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thou- 
sand years.  5.  But  the  rest  of  the  dead  Uved  not  again 
until  the  thousand  years  were  finished.  This  is  the  first 
resurrection.  6.  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part 
in  the  first  resurrection :  on  such  the  second  death  hath 
no  power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of  Christ, 
and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thousand  years.  7.  And 
when  the  thousand  years  are  expired,  Satan  shall  be 
loosed  out  of  his  prison,  8.  And  shall  go  out  to  deceive 
the  nations  which  are  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth, 
Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them  together  to  battle :  the 
number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea.  9.  And  they 
went  up  on  the  breadth  of  the  earth,  and  compassed  the 
camp  of  the  saints  about,  and  the  beloved  city  :  and  fire 
came  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  and  devoured 
them.  10.  And  the  Devil  that  deceived  them  was  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  where  the  beast  and 
the  false  prophet  are,  and  shall  be  tormented  day  and 
night  for  ever  and  ever. 

A  fresh  vision  of  the  Dragon  here  opens  upon  us. 
We  are  now  called  to  contemplate  him  in  an  ulterior 
stage  of  degradation.  In  the  allegorical  narrative 
already  considered  we  have  seen  him  discomfited  in  the 
contest  with  the  celestial  legions  of  Michael,  and  vio- 
lently precipitated  from  heaven  to  earth.     But,  as  if  de- 


140  TREATISE    ON 

termined  to  avenge  the  ignominy  of  his  defeat,  we  left 
him  still  plotting  against  the  mystical  Woman,  aiming 
to  compass  her  destruction  by  disemboguing  a  flood  of 
waters  from  his  mouth ;  and,  when  baffled  in  this  at- 
tempt, instituting  a  stupendous  scheme  of  persecution 
against  her  seed  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
Beast,  to  whom  he  delivered  up  his  seat  and  his  power. 
From  that  time,  it  will  be  observed  by  the  careful 
reader  of  the  Apocalypse,  the  Dragon  himself  retires 
from  the  stage;  the  scope  of  the  prophetical  visions 
being  henceforth  occupied  mainly  with  the  pernicious 
doings  and  the  retributive  destiny  of  his  septem- 
cephalous  successor  through  the  space  of  the  seven 
ensuing  chapters.  In  the  close  of  the  nineteenth,  im- 
mediately preceding  the  portion  which  we  have  quoted, 
the  final  catastrophe  of  the  secular  imperial  Beast  and 
of  the  ecclesiastical  False  Prophet  is  expressly  detailed. 
"  And  I  saw  the  beast>  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  (rather, 
'  even  the  kings  of  the  earth'),  and  their  armies,  gathered 
together  to  make  war  against  him  that  sat  on  the  horse, 
and  against  his  army.  And  the  beast  was  taken,  and 
with  him  the  false  prophet  that  wrought  miracles  before 
him,  with  which  he  deceived  them  that  had  received  the 
mark  of  the  beast,  and  them  that  worshipped  his  image. 
These  both  were  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire  burn- 
ing with  brimstone."  Having  thus  portrayed  by  these 
significant  .emblems  the  remediless  doom  of  the  Beast, 
and  having  consequently  no  more  to  say  of  him,  the 
order  of  the  visions  is  now  reversed,  and  the  prophet  is 
carried  back  in  the  train  of  supernatural  disclosure  to 
the  point  where  the  history  of  the  Dragon  had  been  in- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  141 

terriipted  to  make  way  for  that  of  his  vicegerent  the 
Beast.  In  accordance  with  a  feature  of  the  sacred 
writings  of  incessant  occurrence,  in  which  events,  whe- 
ther historically  or  symbolically  related,  are  transposed 
out  of  their  just  chronological  order,  the  thread  of  the 
story  is  resumed  and  continued  in  the  twentieth  chapter.* 
The  Dragon  had  acted  a  part  too  prominent  and  mo- 
mentous to  be  so  summarily  dismissed  from  among  the 
actors  of  the  mystical  drama.  Nor  did  his  machina- 
tions by  any  means  cease  with  his  personal  withdraAv- 
ment  from  the  scene  of  his  former  exploits.  Very  im- 
portant events,  the  effect  of  his  procurement,  were  yet 
to  be  brought  about ;  and  in  order  that  a  connected  and 
unbroken  view  of  his  operations  and  his  fates  might  be 
recorded  for  the  benefit  of  the  church,  the  symbolical 
history  remounts  to  the  period  of  his  sending  forth  upon 
the  territories  of  Christendom  his  bestial  substitute,  and 
embraces  in   the  present  vision  all  the  chronological 


*  "  It  is  a  well-known  and  well-grounded  maxim  among  the 
Jews,  that  "  non  est  prius  et  posterius  in  Scriptura^"  Their 
meaning  in  it  is  this, — that  the  order  and  place  of  a  text  as  it 
stands  in  the  Bible  doth  not  always  infer  or  enforce  the  very 
time  of  the  story,  which  the  text  relateth  ;  but  that  sometimes, 
— nay  it  occurreth  very  oft,— stories  are  laid  out  of  their  natural 
and  chronical  place,  and  things  are  very  frequently  related 
before,  which,  in  order  of  time,  occurred  after  :  and  so  '  e  con- 
tra.' Nor  is  this  transposition  and  dislocation  of  times  and 
texts  proper  to  the  evangelists  only, — but  the  same  Spirit  that 
dictated  both  the  Testaments,  hath  observed  this  course  in  both 
the  Testaments  alike  :  laying  texts,  chapters,  and  histories  out 
of  the  proper  place  in  which,  according  to  natural  chronical 
order,  they  would  have  lain." — LightfooCs  TVorks^  vol.  ii.  p.  Gl. 
N 


142  TREATISE    OK 

space  between  that  and  the  thne  of  his  ultimate  perdi- 
tion, when  he  too  is  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brim- 
stone, to  which  the  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet  had 
been  already  adjudged.  So  that,  in  fact,  the  vision  of 
the  twentieth  chapter  of  the  Revelation  is  to  be  con- 
sidered, as  far  as  the  events  shadowed  forth  are  con- 
cerned, as  connecting  itself  immediately  with  that  of  the 
twelfth ;  and  a  more  important  clew  to  the  genuine 
structure  of  this  wonderful  book  cannot,  we  believe,  be 
laid  before  the  student  of  prophecy. 

In  attempting,  therefore,  to  fix  the  legitimate  sense  of 
the  symbols  here  employed,  the  first  position  which  we 
assume,  and  which,  if  we  mistake  not,  will  inevitably 
draw  after  it  the  whole  interpretation  that  follows,  is, 
the  identity  of  the  Dragon  which  is  bound  with  the  Dragon 
which  was  cast  out  of  heaven.  Unless  this  point  be  con- 
ceded in  the  outset,  it  will  be  in  vain  to  hope  ever  to 
attain  to  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  prophetic  enigmas 
of  this  book.  If  the  Dragon  or  the  Devil  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  hieroglyphic  in  one  portion  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, we  affirm  that  he  is  to  be  so  viewed  in  every  other 
portion ;  otherwise  we  are  left  in  the  mazes  of  inextri- 
cable confusion  in  every  attempt  to  unravel  the  myste- 
ries which  it  contains.*     But  that  this  assumption,  in- 

f~  *  "  There  is  another  thing  which  particularly  deserves  atten- 
tion, and  which,  as  it  appears  to  me,  must  materially  contribute 
to  settle  the  question  relative  to  the  time  of  the  vision :  the 
power  which  is  here  described  as  chained,  is  denominated  the 
Dragon  ;  but  this  is  no  new  character  ;  and  may  we  not  from 
preceding  scenes  learn  some  of  the  circumstances  of  his  history  ? 
In  the  12th  chapter  he  is  introduced  and  Btyled  the  Old  Ser- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  143 

8tead  of  resting  on  mere  conjecture,  is  in  fact  based  upon 
the  unequivocal  declarations  of  the  sacred  text,  will  be 

pent,  Iho  Devil,  and  Satan ;  and  in  the  20th  he  makes  his  ap- 
pearance again,  when  precisely  the  same  terms  are  employed 
to  characterize  this  symbolical  personage  ;  the  Dragon  is  The 
Old  Serpent,  the  Devil,  and  Satan.     Must  it  not  then  be 
the  same  Dragon  in  both  places  ?     Do  we  not  find  the  same 
names,  the  same  titles,  and  the  same  attributes  ?     And  can  it 
be  supposed  that  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  would  give  the  same 
description  where  the  symbolical  existence  was  not  the  same  ? 
The  term  Dragon  cannot  have  a  literal  signification,  and  when 
symbolically  employed  it  must  on  deliberate  reflection  seem 
surprising  that  it  should  have  two  diff'erent  senses  in  the  same 
book,  composed  by  the  same  author.    Nothing  but  the  supposed 
necessity  of  supporting  a  preconceived  opinion  could  have  been 
the  origin  of  such  an  expedient.     But  the  Dragon  of  the  Apoca- 
lyptic Writer  is  the  same  symbolical  personage  wherever  he  ap- 
pears.   In  the  twelfth  chapter  he  is  represented  as  having  seven 
heads  and  ten  horns,  with  crowns  on  his  heads.     This,  in  the 
language  of  hieroglyphics,  plainly  expresses  the  Paganism  of  the 
Roman  empire.     In  another  place,  an  interpreting  angel  in- 
forms us,  that  the  'seven  heads    are    seven   mountains,*  on 
which  mountains  Rome  was  built ;  and  in  the  chapter  to  which 
reference  has  just  been  made,  a  conflict  is  described  between 
Michael  and  his  angels,  and  the  Dragon  and  his  angels,  the 
issue  of  which  was  that  the  Dragon  was  cast  unto  the  earth. 
Now  I  am  not  aware  that  there  is  any  difference  of  opinion 
among  the  interpreters  of  prophecy  relative  to  this  conflict.     It 
is  admitted,  that  in  this  contest,  Paganism  was  overcome,  was 
hurled  from  the  seat  of  empire,  was  excluded  from  having  any 
part  in  the  management  of  public  affairs,  and  finally  the  rabble 
of  the  Pantheon  were  exiled  from  the  Roman  territory.     But 
according  to  commentators  and  the  expositors  of  prophecy  it 
would  seem,  that  the  Dragon,  on  his  defeat,  exile,  and  im- 
prisonment, underwent  an  astonishing  metamorphosis.     The 
Dragon,    acknowledged  to   be  Paganism  at  his  first  appear- 
ance in  the  prophetic  scenery,  becomes  the  Devil  personally, 


144  TREATISE  ON 

obvious  from  the  bare  inspection  of  the  two  following 
passages  ranged  in  juxtaposition  r — 

Rkv.  XII.  9.  Rev.  xx,  2,  3. 

"  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  "  And  he  laid  hold  an  the  dragon, 
out,  that  old  serpent,  called  the  Devil  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil 
and  Satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole  and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand 
world."  years— that  he  should  deceive  the  na- 

tions no  more." 

This  must  of  necessity  remove  all  doubt  as  to  the  per- 
fect equivalency  of  the  symbols  in  the  two  visions.  If 
then,  as  we  have  endeavoured  to  show,  the  term  Dragon, 
Devil,  or  Satan,  as  used  by  John  in  the  Revelation,  must 
be  understood,  not  as  the  literal  appellation  of  the  per- 
son of  the  Tempter,  or  the  prince  of  fallen  spirits,  but 
as  the  mystic  emblem  of  despotism  and  idolatry  united^ 
the  true  idea  of  Paganism,  the  inference  is  irresistible, 
that  the  binding  of  the  Dragon  or  of  Satan  for  the  space 
of  a  thousand  years  must  imply  something  more  than 
the  mere  restraining  of  what  is  usually  denominated 
*  Satanic  influences.'  It  is  in  fact  but  di,  figurative  mode 
of  announcing  the  suppression  of  Paganism  for  a  defi- 
nite term  of  years ;  not  indeed  its  universal  suppression, 
but  its  banishment  from  the  bounds  of  Christendom 
during  the  period  specified,  as  will  be  more  fully  evinced 

the  Devil  himself,  the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air.  This 
certainly  exhibits  a  strange  latitude  of  interpretation :  but 
by  what  authority  or  on  what  grounds  is  this  liberty  taken  ? 
Are  there  any  canons  or  principles  of  interpretation  which  will 
sanction  such  a  transformation  ?  Can  the  symbols  of  prophecy 
be  made  to  signify  first  one  thing,  and  then  another,  according 
to  the  fancy  of  those  who  undertake  to  explain  them .''  At  this 
rate,  symbolical  language  would  be  a  mass  of  uncertainties, 
more  vague  in  its  import  than  the  oracles  of  heathenism."-— 
VinCs  New  Illustr,  of  Proph.  p.  249,  25Q. 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  145 

in  the  sequel.  That]^this  language  should  have  been 
interpreted  by  the  great  mass  of  expositors  in  its  most 
literal  import,  as  implying  that  Satan  should  be  confined 
in  hell  a  thousand  years,  and  his  temptations  during  that 
period  held  in  abeyance,  and  that  they  should  have  con- 
structed upon  this  circumstance  a  theory  of  the  Millen- 
nium distinguished  by  a  state  of  the  church  and  of  the 
world  all  but  absolutely  sinless,  can  be  accounted  for 
only  from  the  fact,  that  they  have  conducted  their  in- 
vestigations upon  principles  which  disregarded  the  most 
obvious  laws  of  symbolical  exegesis,  and  which  were 
equally  abhorrent  to  the  dictates  of  sound  reason.  For 
freedom  from  temptation  detracts  from  the  value  of  obe- 
dience just  so  far  as  it  exists.  The  strength  and  the 
worth  of  the  pious  principle  in  men  is  to  be  estimated 
by  the  counter-solicitations  which  it  overcomes,  and 
we  know  not  that  any  state  of  the  Christian  church  is 
predicted,  in  which  men  shall  be  delivered  from  the 
operation  of  those  incentives  to  sin  which  are  inseparable 
from  the  constitution  of  their  nature  as  moral  agents. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  the  most  pure  and  per- 
fect, the  most  prosperous  and  glorious,  state  of  the 
church  in  this  world  would  be  that  in  which  the  greatest 
strength  of  temptation  to  evil  should  co-exist  with  the 
most  vigorous  resistance  to  it ;  and  this  would  be  a 
state  in  which  Satan,  instead  of  being  bound  and  hin- 
dered from  putting  forth  his  ordinary  influences,  would 
be  most  free  and  rampant,  and  would  ply  his  hellish 
arts  with  most  untiring  activity.  Into  such  incongrui- 
ties are  we  led  by  giving  a  literal  interpretation  to  sym-- 
holical  terms.  But  suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  the  lan- 
N2 


14G  TREATISE  OJC 

guage  in  the  passage  before  us  to  be  interpreted  in 
consistency  with  the  ascertained  import  of  the  same 
symbols  in  other  places,  and  an  easy  and  natural  sense 
at  once  discloses  itself  under  the  figured  diction  of  the 
prophet.  If  the  Dragon  be  Paganism  personified^  then 
his  being  seized,  bound,  and  incarcerated  for  a  thousand 
years,  must  necessarily  signify  some  powerful  restraint 
laid  in  the  providence  of  God  upon  this  baneful  system 
of  error,  by  which  its  prevalence,  through  the  above- 
mentioned  period,  is  vastly  weakened,  obstructed, 
and  confined  to  narrow  limits,  though  not  utterly  de- 
stroyed. 

The  question,  therefore,  whether  this  period  be 
already  past  or  yet  future,  resolves  itself  into  another 
question  purely  historical.  Has  there  already  occurred 
in  the  annals  of  the  Christian  world — for  the  book  of 
Revelation  has  mainly  to  do  with  the  territories  of 
Christendom — an  extended  tract  of  time  during  which 
the  system  of  Pagan  delusions  was  suppressed,  and  the 
fabric  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  oppression  represented 
by  the  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet  prevailed  in  its 
stead  ?  But  this  is  a  question  which  the  veriest  novice 
in  the  history  of  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, and  of  those  nations  which  branched  out  of  its 
dismembered  fragments,  is  at  once  prepared  to  answer. 
No  facts  in  the  chronicles  of  the  past  are  more  notorious, 
than  that  Paganism  under  Constantino  and  his  succes- 
sors did,  after  a  desperate  struggle,  succumb  to  Chris- 
tianity in  its  triumphant  progress ;  and  that  the  religion 
of  the  Gospel,  after  subsisting  for  one  or  two  centuries 
posterior  to  the  age  of  Constantine  in  a  state  of  com- 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  147 

parative  parity,  did  gradually  become  corrupt  in  doctrine, 
carnal  and  secular  in  spirit,  and  arrogant  in  its  claims, 
till  finally  it  allied  itself  to  the  civil  power  in  a  union 
which  gave  birth  to  the  ecclesiastico-politico  dominion 
of  the  Roman  pontificate,  for  so  many  centuries  the  para- 
mount scourge  of  Europe.  As  it  is  unquestionable, 
therefore,  that  the  ascendency  of  Paganism  in  the  Ro- 
man empire  was  succeeded  by  that  of  Antichristianism, 
symbolically  denoted  by  the  Beast's  succeeding  the 
Dragon,  so  we  are  led  to  consider  the  binding  of  the 
Dragon,  i.  e.  the  suppression  of  Paganism,  as  com- 
mencing about  the  time  of  the  rise  of  the  Beast,  and 
nearly  coinciding  with  the  first  thousand  years  of  his 
reign. 

This  may  strike  the  reader  as  a  very  revolting  con- 
clusion. To  represent  the  Apocalyptic  Millennium, 
which  he  has  always  conceived  as  but  another  name  for 
the  golden  age  of  the  church,  as  actually  synchronizing 
with  the  most  calamitous  period  of  her  annals,  will  no 
doubt  do  violence  to  his  most  cherished  sentiments  re- 
specting that  distinguished  era.  But  this  conclusion 
we  know  not  how  to  avoid,  nor  do  we  see  how  any  one 
can  avoid  it  who  admits  the  premises  on  which  it  rests. 
For  certainly  the  millennial  ligation  of  the  Dragon  must 
either  coincide  with  a  thousand  years  of  the  reign  of 
the  Beast,  as  we  maintain,  or  it  must  succeed  it.  But 
if  the  latter,  then  we  have  a  break  in  the  prophetical 
history  of  the  Dragon  or  Paganism,  of  between  one 
and  two  thousand  years,  in  relation  to  the  events  of 
which  we  are  left  in  utter  ignorance.  By  the  former 
interpretation,  the  chain  is  preserved  unbroken  from  its 


148  TREATISE   ON 

earliest  origin  to  its  final  annihilation.  Besides,  by  in- 
terpreting the  period  of  Satan's  binding  as  yet  future, 
we  encounter  a  textual  difficulty  of  no  trifling  character. 
In  Rev.  12.  12.  after  the  close  of  the  contest  in  heaven, 
it  is  said  ; — '  Wo  to  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  and  the 
sea !  for  the  devil  is  come  down  unto  you,  having  great 
wrath,  because  he  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short  time;'' 
i.  e.  he  knoweth  that  after  his  fall  from  heaven,  but  a 
short  time  will  intervene  anterior  to  his  binding  and 
confinement  in  the  bottomless  pit,  as  represented  in  the 
vision  under  consideration.  But  if  he  came  down  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  and  the  sea  in  his  dejection 
from  the  symbolical  heaven  in  the  days  of  Constantine, 
and  yet  his  binding  was  not  to  take  place  till  near  two 
thousand  years  after  that  event,  with  what  propriety 
could  it  be  said  that  he  knew  his  time  was  short  1  The 
time  would  in  truth  be  long,  very  long,  when  compared 
with  the  whole  period  embraced  in  the  visions  of  the 
Apocalypse.  Now  by  our  mode  of  interpretation  we 
allow  from  one  to  two  centuries  for  the  term  of  the 
Devil's  execution  of  his  designs  against  the  subjects  of 
the  Roman  empire  subsequent  to  his  expulsion  from  the 
seat  of  supremacy  in  the  government,  and  previous  to 
his  bindin  g;  and  this  strikingly  corresponds  with  the 
statement  of  Gibbon.  Speaking  of  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantine, he  says ;  "  Every  motive  of  authority  and 
fashion,  of  interest  and  reason,  now  militated  on  the 
side  of  Christianity ;  hut  two  or  three  generations 
elapsed  before  their  victorious  influence  ivas  universally 
felt.^''*     The  same  writer  elsewhere  remarks,  that  "  the 

•  Decl.  and  Fall,  p.  332. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  149 

generation  which  arose  in  the  world  after  the  promul- 
gation of  the  imperial  laws,  was  attracted  within  the 
pale  of  the  catholic  church  :  and  so  rapid^  yet- so  gentle, 
was  the  fall  of  Paganism,  that  only  twenty-eight  years 
after  the  death  of  Theodosius,  the  faint  and  minute 
vestiges  were  no  longer  visible  to  the  eye  of  the  legis- 
lator.''^* The  death  of  Theodosius  occurred  A.  D. 
395,  and  we  suppose  the  binding  of  Satan  to  have 
commenced  somewhere  between  this  and  A.  D.  450, 
but  the  precise  year  we  pretend  not  to  determine.  The 
rise  of  the  Beast  is  to  be  fixed  at  a  somewhat  later 
period  ;  the  exact  date  of  that  epoch  also  we  leave  to 
be  settled  by  those  who  feel  themselves  competent  to 
do  it.  The  expiration  of  the  thousand  years,  accord- 
ing to  this  computation,  will  nearly  coincide  with  the 
estabhshment  of  the  Turkish  power  in  Western  Asia  in 
consequence  of  the  capture  of  Constantinople,  A.  D. 
1453  ;  and  how  entirely  the  history  of  that  period  and 
that  people  answers  the  import  of  the  prophetic  sym- 
bols will  be  shown  in  the  sequel,  in  our  explication  of 
the  mystic  post-millennial  Gog  and  Magog. — We  shall 
now  enter  upon  a  more  minute  consideration  of  the 
language  of  this  remarkable  vision. 

**  And  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from  heaven,  hav- 
ing the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  a  great  chain  in 
his  hand."  An  angel,  in  the  language  of  symbols,  is 
used  to  denote  any  agent  or  agency,  terrestrial  or  celes- 
tial, by  which  the  purposes  of  the  Almighty  are  accom- 
plished.    In  the  passage  before  us,  the  angel  is  but  an- 

*  Deck  and  Fall,  p.  469, 


150  TREATISE    ON 

Other  name  for  the  power  of  the  Gospel^  putting  itself 
forth  through  the  commissioned  ministers  of  the  Roman 
government^  tvhich  had  now  become  Christian.     As  vfe 
are  taught  by  our  Lord  himself,  that  no  one  can  *  enter 
into  a  strong  man's  house,  and  spoil  his  goods,  except 
he  first  bind  the  strong  man,''  so  it  was  nothing  but  the 
divine  potency  of  the  religion  of  the  cross,  which  could 
avail  to   dislodge   the    system  of  Paganism  from   its 
strongholds,  and  annul  the  pernicious  influence  which  it 
had  for  ages  exerted  upon  the  human  mind.     This 
hitherto  unprecedented  revolution,  which  had  long  been 
gradually  working  its  way  to  a  crisis,  received,  as  we 
have  already  intimated,  its  final  consummation  in  or 
shortly  after  the  reign  of  Theodosius.     "  The  ruin  of 
Paganism,  in  the  age  of  Theodosius,  is  perhaps  the  only 
example  of  the  total  extirpation  of  any  ancient   and 
popular  superstition ;  and  may  therefore  be  considered 
as  a  singular  event  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind."* 
The  reader  of  Gibbon  will  find  in  the  concluding  part 
of  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  a 
more  valuable  commentary  on  this  part  of  the  twentieth 
chapter  of  the  Apocalypse  than  is  furnished  by  all  the 
professed  expositors  who  have  '  taken  in  hand  to  set 
forth  in  order  a  declaration  of  the  things'  contained  in 
it.     "  The  gods  of  antiquity,"  says  he,  *'  were  dragged 
in  triumph  at  the  chariot-wheels  of  Theodosius.     In  a 
full  meeting  of  the  senate,  the  emperor  proposed,  accord- 
ing to  the  forms  of  the  republic,  the  important  question, 
whether  the  worship  of  Jupiter  or  that  of  Christ  should 

*  Decl,  and  Fall,  p.  462. 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  151 

be  the  religion  of  the  Romans.  On  a  regular  division 
of  the  senate,  Jupiter  was  condemned  and  degraded  by 
the  sense  of  a  very  large  majority." — "  The  pious  labor 
which  had  been  suspended  near  twenty  years  since  the 
death  of  Constantine,  was  vigorously  resumed,  and 
finally  accomplished,  by  the  zeal  of  Theodosius.  Whilst 
that  warlike  prince  yet  struggled  with  the  Goths,  not 
for  the  glory  but  the  safety  of  the  republic,  he  ventured 
to  offend  a  considerable  party  of  his  subjects,  by  some 
acts  which  might  perhaps  secure  the  protection  of 
heaven,'but  which  must  seem  rash  and  unreasonable  in 
the  eye  of  human  prudence.  The  success  of  his  first 
experiments  against  the  Pagans  encouraged  the  pious 
emperor  to  reiterate  and  enforce  his  edicts  of  proscrip- 
tion ;  and  every  victory  of  the  orthodox  Theodosius 
contributed  to  the  triumph  of  the  Christian  and  Catho- 
lic faith."* — A  *  k9y'  being  an  instrument  used  for  the 
double  purpose  of  opening  or  shutting,  is  in  itself  a  sym- 
bol of  equivocal  import.  It  signifies,  however,  either 
the  power  to  prevent  or  to  perform  the  action  to  which 
it  is  applied,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
Thus  the  'keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,'  Mat.  16. 
19.  represented  as  given  to  Peter  in  the  name  of  all 
the  other  apostles,  denotes  the  ministerial  or  decla- 
rative power  conferred  upon  them  of  proclaiming  the 
terms  on  which  men  were  to  be  admitted  into  the  gospel 
kingdom,  and  invested  with  a  share  in  its  spiritual  bless- 
ings. So  in  Luke  11.  5.  the  taking  away  of  'the  key 
of  knowledge'  implies  the  assumption  on  the  part  of 

•  Decl.  and  Fall,  p.  464,  465. 


152  TREATISE    ON 

those  who  are  charged  with  it  of  a  magisterial  right 
either  to  grant  or  to  withhold  from  the  mass  of  the 
people  the  means  or  the  power  of  attaining  knowledge ; 
so  that  the  term  still  conveys  the  idea  of  official  prero- 
gative. A  passage  still  more  pertinent  to  our  purpose 
occurs  Is.  22.  22.  *  And  the  key  of  the  house  of  David 
will  I  lay  upon  his  shoulder ;  so  he  shall  open,  and  none 
shall  shut ;  and  he  shall  shut,  and  none  shall  open  ;' 
rendered  in  the  Chaldee  Targum, — "  And  I  will  de- 
liver the  key  of  the  house  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the 
government  of  the  house  of  David  into  his  hand." 
Upon  this  passage  Lowth  remarks  ; — "  That  as  the 
robe  and  the  baldric  (girdle)  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
verse  were  the  ensigns  of  'power  and  authority,  so  like- 
wise was  the  key  the  mark  of  office,  either  sacred  or 
civil."  The  import  of  the  expression  doubtless  is,  that 
Eliakim  should  act  by  an  anthoritative  commission,  as 
the  prime  minister,  or  rather  perhaps  the  high  steward, 
of  the  house  of  David,  having  all  the  subordinate  offi- 
cials of  the  royal  palace  so  entirely  under  his  control, 
and  so  obedient  to  his  nod,  that  his  will  was  to  be  to 
them  an  absolute  law.  The  laying  of  the  key  therefore 
upon  his  shoulder  was  merely  the  symbol  of  the  transfer 
of  this  delegated  authority ;  which  still  farther  illus- 
trates the  import  of  the  key  as  a  hieroglyphic*    Again 

*  In  like  manner,  in  the  classic  writers,  the  priestess  of  Juno 
is  called  x^s/cTou^o?  'H/iaf,  key-hearer  of  Juno.  iEsch.  Suppl.  299. 
A  female  high  in  office  under  a  great  queen  has  the  same  title : 
KtKKiboii  KKti^oZ%Qi  OwixirlaS'oi  ^acrixehc,  CallUhce  the  key-bearer  of 
the  queen  Olympias.  Anc.  Phorion.  ap.  Clem.  Alex.  p.  418. 
This  mark  of  office  was  likewise  among  the  Greeks,  as  here  in 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  153 

it  is  said,  Rev.  9.  1.  *  And  I  saw  a  star  fall  from  heaven 
unto  the  earth :  and  to  him  was  given  the  key  of  the 
bottomless  pit.'  The  office  of  the  key  in  this  instance 
was  to  open  instead  of  shut,  but  it  still  throws  light 
upon  the  general  symbol.  It  denotes  in  the  present 
connexion  a  providential  license  given  to  some  apostate 
agent,  represented  by  the  falling  star,  to  be  the  means 
of  releasing  from  confinement  some  destructive  power 
which  was  to  issue  forth  and  to  desolate  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  Apocalyptic  earth.  The  key  is  men- 
tioned in  order  to  indicate  that  the  work  executed  by 
the  prophetic  agents  was  performed  in  consequence  of 
an  official  designation  emanating  from  a  higher  power. 
This  is  clearly  implied  also  in  the  force  of  the  word 
th6n — was  given.  The  grand  event  depicted  by  the 
symbol  was  undoubtedly  the  irruption  of  the  Saracens 
under  Mohammed  and  his  successors  against  the  Romau 
empire.  "  This,"  says  Daubuz,  "  expresses  well  a 
hidden  multitude  of  confused  men  arising  on  a  sudden, 
and  breaking  out  to  make  incursions,  as  a  subterraneous 
flood  when  broken  out ;  and  that  according  to  the  ana- 
logy that  the  Deep  or  the  Sea  signifies  a  multitude  in 
war  and  tumult,  and  the  Pit  the  most  vile,  lowest,  and 
contemptible  sort  of  men,  like  the  slaves  that  are  in 
the  pit.  I  think  then  that  the  Holy  Ghost  did  design 
to  show  by  the  key  of  the  bottomless  gulf  which  was 
given  to  this  star  fallen  from  heaven  upon  the  earth, 
that  this  rebellious  prince  or  upstart  would  set  the  slaves 

Isaiah,  borne  on  the  shoulder,  wherefore  it  is  said  of  the 
priestess  of  Ceres,  KaraudJ'fav  i^^t  xxeJcTa,  she  had  a  key  upon  her 
shoulder. — Callim.  Ceres,  v.  45. 

o 


154  TREATISE    ON 

at  liberty,  and  all  such  sorts  of  despicable  men  ;  and 
by  setting  himself  at  the  head  of  them,  lead  on  that 
mixed  multitude  to  prosecute  the  purposes  mentioned 
hereafter  :  carrying  on  their  designs  by  a  continual  and 
prodigious  war,  and  incursions  upon  others.  The  Sara- 
cens were  as  hell  broke  loose.  Mahomet  was  sent  to 
punish  corrupted  Christendom  with  the  vilest  sort  of 
men,  the  most  despicable  nation."*  It  will  be  seen  in 
the  sequel  that  we  differ  from  this  commentator,  for 
whom  we  have  greater  respect  than  for  any  other,  in 
our  explication  of  the  symbol  of  the  *  bottomless  pit,' 
but  the  citation  is  important  for  our  main  purpose. 
From  what  has  now  been  said,  we  are  better  prepared 
to  understand  the  drift  of  the  emblematic  scenery  under 
consideration.  The  circumstance  of  the  angel's  coming 
down  from  heaven  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit 
in  his  hand,  denotes  that  the  action  to  which  his  coming 
has  reference,  viz.  the  apprehension,  binding,  and  im- 
prisonment of  the  Dragon,  was  to  be  performed  by  a 
delegated  poroer^  an  authorized  and  official  ministry, 
or  in  other  words,  in  consequence  of  an  imperial  edict. 
The  evident  scope  of  this  part  of  the  vision  is  to  point 
out  to  us  the  fact,  that  the  power  symbolized  by  the 
Dragon  was  forcibly  expelled  from  the  territories  in 
which  it  had  hitherto  subsisted,  and  that  through  the 
instrumentality  of  some  commissioned  organ  acting  in 
the  name  of  the  supreme  authority.  Now  as  a  matter 
of  historical  verity.  Paganism  did  not  go  out  of  the 
Roman  empire,  but  it  was  driven  out.     The  majesty  of 

♦  Perpet.  Comment,  p.  398. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  155 

the  law  commanded  its  expulsion,  and  the  reader  who 
may  have  access  to  the  Theodosian  Code  containing 
the   enactments  against  Paganism,  is  in  possession  of 
the  genuine  '  key'  of  the  passage  and  to  the  passage 
before  us.     The  historian  so  often  cited,  speaking  of 
the  attempts  of  the  idolaters  by  subtle  distinctions  to 
elude  the  laws  enacted  agahist  the  heathen  sacrifices, 
says, — "  These  vain  pretences  were  swept  away  by  tho 
last  edict  of  Theodosius,  which  inflicted  a  deadly  wound 
upon  the  superstition  of  the  Pagans.     This  prohibitory 
law  is  expressed  in  the  most  absolute  and  comprehen- 
sive terms.     *  It  is  our  will  and  pleasure,'  says  the  em- 
peror, *  that  none  of  our  subjects,  whether  magistrates 
or  private  citizens,  however  exalted  or  however  humble 
may  be  their  rank  and  condition,  shall  presume,  in  any 
city  or  in  any  place,  to  worship  an  inanimate  idol  by 
the  sacrifice  of  A  guiltless  victim.'  "* — "  As  the  tem- 
ples  had  been  erected  for  the  purpose  of  sacrifice,  it 
was  the  duty  of  a  benevolent  prince  to  remove  from  his 
subjects  the  dangerous  temptation  of  offending  against 
the  laws  which  he  had  enacted.     A  special  commission 
was  granted  to  Cynegius,  the  praetorian  praefect  of  the 
east,  and  afterward  to  the  Counts  Jovius  and  Gaudentius, 
two  officers  of  distinguished  rank  in  the  west,  by  lohich 
they  were  directed  to  shut  the  temples,  to  seize  or  destroy 
the  instruments  of  idolatry,  to  abolish  tlie  privileges  of 
the  priests,  and  to  confiscate  the  consecrated  property 
for  the  benefit  of  the  emperor,  of  the  church,  or  of  the 
army."t     This  then  was  the  binding  of  the  Dragon, 

*  Deck  and  Fall,  p.  468. 

t  Ibid.  p.  465.     Among  the  monuments  of  idolatry  which 


156  TREATISE    ON 

another  name  for  the  authoritative  suppression  of  Pagan- 
ism, an  event  which  from  its  very  nature  cannot  be  tied 
down  to  the  space  of  a  month  or  a  year,  though  we 
may  still  approach  near  enough  to  a  definite  epoch  to 
answer  all  the  grand  purposes  of  exposition.  So  con- 
clusive is  the  proof  that  if  the  Dragon  be  Paganism, 
the  millennium,  which  was  to  be  mainly  distinguished 
by  his  binding,  is  long  since  past. 

"  And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  that  old  serpent, 
which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand 
years  ;  and  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit,  and  shut 
him  up,  and  set  a  seal  upon  him,  that  he  should  deceive 
the  nations  no  more,  till  the  thousand  years  should  be 
fulfilled ;  and  after  that  he  must  be  loosed  a  little  sea- 
son." The  Greek  term  a/St/s-c-o?,  translated  in  our  version 
*  bottomless  pit,'  is  derived  from  the  privative  «  and 
/3f ^s?,  which  in  the  lojiic  dialect  is  changed  into  /Swo-c-o^ . 
It  is  originally  an  adjective,  signifying  deep,  profound, 
unfathomable^  immense,  inaccessible.  As  a  substantive 
with  %«yf«s,  region^  understood,  it  denotes  a  place  of  in- 
definite, indescribable  depth  or  extent,  a  place  incapable 
of  being  explored.  It  occurs  in  the  Septuagint  version 
of  the  Old  Testament  thirty-nine  times,  in  thirty-six  of 
which  the  original  Hebrew  term  to  which  it  answers  is 
ai'nn  usually  rendered  the  deep,  the  great  deep,  &;c. 
In  the  New  Testament  it  occurs  nine  times  ;  seven  of 
the  passages  in  which  it  is  met  with  being  in  the  Reve-. 

were  destroyed  on  this  occasion,  the  histor'an  mentions  parti- 
cularly an  emblematic  monster,  hiving  the  head  and  body  of  a 
serpent,  branching  into  three  tails,  which  were  again  tei:minated 
by  the  triple  heads  of  a  dog,  a  lion,  and  ^  wo\A 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  167 

lation.  In  a  majority  of  the  cases  above  specified  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  it  contains  an  allusion  to  waters  ; 
in  others  it  is  equally  evident  that  it  refers  to.cavernous 
recesses  in  the  earth,  in  which  there  is  no  implication 
of  the  presence  of  waters.  Thus  Rom.  10.  7.  "Who 
shall  descend  into  the  deep  (Gr.  ei%  rtiv  ec(ivcrG-ov),  that  is, 
to  bring  up  Christ  again  from  the  dead  ?"  where  the  allu- 
sion is  plainly  to  the  sepulchral  vaults  in  which  the  dead 
were  entombed.  So  in  Rev.  9.  2.  where  it  is  said,  "  he 
opened  the  bottomless  pit  (Gr.  to  ^^eu^  t>;5  oc^vttov — the 
well,  pit,  or  shaft  of  the  abyss),''^  as  it  is  not  said  that 
water  issued  forth,  but  first  smoke  and  then  locusts, 
which  we  know  are  not  of  aquatic  origin,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  '  abyss'  in  this  connexion,  literally  under- 
stood, denotes  any  thing  more  than  a  vast  subterranean 
recess  with  which  the  pit  or  well  had  a  secret  or  direct 
communication,  as  some  of  the  wells  in  Egypt  commu- 
nicate with  the  excavated  chambers  of  the  Pyramids. 
In  like  manner  it  may  be  justly  questioned  whether  the 
*  abyss,'  in  the  passage  before  us,  in  which  the  Dragon 
was  to  be  shut  up,  will  admit  of  being  understood  in  any 
other  sense  than  as  an  immense  cavern  in  the  earth, 
such  as  were  employed  among  the  nations  of  the  east 
for  the  double  purpose  of  places  of  interment  for  the 
dead,  and  confinement  for  state  criminals.  As  to  the 
sense  popularly  affixed  to  the  phrase,  in  which  it  is  con- 
sidered as  an  appellation  of  the  place  of  torment  for  the 
wicked  after  death,  or  as  synonymous  with  '  the  infernal 
regions,'  we  find  not  a  single  passage  either  in  the  Old 
or  the  New  Testament  by  w^hich  that  import  is  sustained. 
It  is  said,  indeed,  Luke  8.  30,  31.  that  the  devils 
02 


158  THEATISE  OK 

(demons),  which  had  entered  into  the  demoniac  wh& 
called  himself  Legion,  "  besought  him  that  he  would  not 
command  them,  f /§  rjjv  cc(ivT(rov  ctTceXhty — to  go  away  into 
the  abyss."  But  it  may  be  questioned,  in  regard  to  this 
passage,  whether  the  allusion  be  not  to  the  very  abyss 
spoken  of  in  this  vision  of  the  Revelation,  in  which  the 
Dragon,  as  the  mystical  denomination  of  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  ancient  demonology,  was  to  be  cast ;  or  whether, 
in  other  words,  this  request  was  not  prompted  by  the 
anticipation  of  that  dreaded  doom  which  had  been  plainly 
preintimated  for  ages  before  in  the  oracular  shadowings 
of  the  Old  Testament  prophets  ;  as  the  visions  of  the 
Apocalypse  are  but  a  developement  of  the  darker  mys- 
teries of  prior  revelations.  But  whether  this  be  so  or 
not,  the  abyss  into  which  the  unclean  spirits  deprecated 
being  cast  cannot  well  be  considered  a  body  of  water, 
as  otherwise  they  would  hardly  have  petitioned  to  be 
permitted  to  enter  into  the  herd  of  swine  which  rushed 
at  once  into  the  lake. 

But  if  such  be  the  literal  import  of  the  '  abyss'  which 
was  to  constitute  the  Dragon's  prison-house,  the  ques- 
tion arises.  What  is  its  symbolical  significancy  ? — for  it 
can  no  more  be  doubted  that  the  Abyss  is  a  symbol, 
than  that  the  Dragon  himself  is.  Analogical  consistency 
imperiously  requires  this  view  of  the  subject.  In  an- 
swer then  to  the  question  we  observe,  that  as  the  Roman 
empire  was  to  the  apostle  John  and  his  contemporaries 
the  known  civilized  world,  and  the  stage  on  which  were 
exhibited  the  different  scenes  of  prophetic  vision  ;  so  the 
Abyss,  the  place  of  the  Dragon's  confinement,  was,  if 
we  mistake  not,  intended  by  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  to 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  15^ 

signify  the  unknown  worlds  comprising  the  immense,  un- 
explored^ undefined,  boundless  regions  which  stretched 
away  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire,  particu- 
larly to  the  north  and  east,  jvhere  Satan  had  long  estab- 
lished his  throne,  where  he  ruled  with  undivided  sway^ 
and  where  idolatry  in  its  most  frightful  and  horrid 
forms  has  ever  held  a  disastrous  dominion.  This  af- 
fords a  natural,  easy,  and  consistent  solution  of  the 
imagery  of  the  vision.  The  binding  and  confinement 
of  the  Dragon  in  the  Abyss  is  the  expulsion  of  Paganism 
from  the  bounds  of  Christendom,  and  its  restriction 
within  the  limits  of  certain  regions  which  lay  without 
the  territorial  platform  of  the  Roman  empire.  Augustin 
seems  to  have  had  an  inkling  of  the  true  sense  of  the 
symbol ; — "  Gentes  igitur  sunt,  in  quibus  diabolum  velut 
in  abysso  superius  intellegebamus,  inclusum"* — There 
are  nations,  therefore^  in  which,  as  before  explained,  the 
devil  was  shut  up  as  in  an  abyss.  But  the  pen  of 
Gibbon,  in  describing  the  fact  which  we  suppose  to  have 
constituted  the  accomplishment  of  this  prophecy,  would 
seem  to  have  been  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  inspiration. 
"  Before  the  age  of  Charlemagne,  the  Christian  nations 
of  Europe  might  exult  in  the  possession  of  the  temperate 
climates,  of  the  fertile  fields  which  produced  corn,  wine, 
and  oil ;  while  the  savage  idolaters  and  their  helpless 
idols  were  confined  to  the  extremities  of  the  earthy  the 
dark  and  frozen  regions  of  the  north.''"'] 

Such  then,  if  we  rightly  interpret  the  prophetic  signs, 
is  the  scope  of  this  vision.     The  Millennium  of  the 

*  August.  De  Civit.  Dei,  1.  20.  c   11. 
i  Decl.  and  Fall,  p.  609. 


160  TREATISE    ON 

Apocalypse  is  but  another  name  for  that  long  interreg- 
num which  broke  the  extended  term  of  the  dominion  of 
Paganism  subsequent  to  the  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Roman  world.  It  was  in  fact  a  millennial 
syncope  of  the  vital  vigour  of  that  power  which  had  be- 
fore animated  the  governments  of  all  nations  coming 
within  the  limits  of  the  empire  of  the  Ca3sars.  How 
gross  then  the  anachronism  of  placing  this  period  near 
the  end  of  the  world  ! 

But  that  the  reader  may  have  some  guaranty  that  the 
adoption  of  this  opinion  will  not  of  course  throw  him 
out  of  the  range  of  all  fellowship  of  sentiment  with  the 
Christian  world,  we  shall  here  adduce  the  sanction  of 
some  eminent  names  who  have  advocated  in  effect  the 
very  theory  we  are  now  maintaining.  Not  that  their 
authority  is  adequate  to  decide  tlie  question  of  its  truth  ; 
but  it  is  gratifying  to  find,  when  a  particular  conclusion 
has  been  arrived  at  by  a  process  of  reasoning  conducted 
independently  of  all  human  authority,  that  other  minds, 
for  whose  decisions  we  have  great  respect,  have  been 
led  to  form  substantially  the  same  judgment  upon  the 
points  at  issue. 

Lightfoot,  Brightman,  and  Usher  are,  we  believe,  the 
only  English  authors  of  eminence  who  have  maintained 
that  the  Millennium  of  John  is  past.  The  former,  in  a 
sermon  preached  at  Hertford  Assizes,  March,  1660, 
the  text  of  which  is  Rev.  20.  4.  holds  the  following 
language : — 

"  This  portion  of  Scripture  out  of  which  I  have  taken 
my  text  is  as  much  misconstrued  and  as  dangerously 
misconstrued  as  any  one  portion  of  Scripture  in  all  the 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  161 

Bible.  What  work  the  millennary  and  fifth  monarchists 
make  upon  this  place  I  need  not  tell  you.  They  look 
forward  and  make  account  that  the  things  that  are  here 
spoken  of  their  accomplishment  and  fulfilling  are  yet  to 
come.  I  look  backward  and  fear  not  to  aver,  that  the 
things  here  spoken  of  have  received  their  accomplish- 
ment long  ago.  They  look  forward  and  expect  that 
the  thousand  years  that  are  here  mentioned  are  yet 
to  begin ;  I  look  backward,  and  make  no  doubt  that 
those  thousand  years  ended  and  expired  above  half  a 
thousand  years  since. 

"  The  Apocalyptic  writer  speaks  up  that  great  and 
noble  theme  that  all  the  prophets  so  divinely  and  com- 
fortably harp  upon — namely,  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles, 
that  they  should  come  in  out  of  their  dark  and  deluded 
state,  to  the  light  and  embracing  of  the  gospel,  and  to 
become  the  church  and  people  of  the  living  God ;  that 
Christ,  the  great  angel  of  the  covenant,  should  by  the 
power  of  the  gospel  chain  up  the  devil,  that  he  should 
deceive  them  no  more  as  he  had  done.  The  mistakers 
I  mention  do  either  ignorantly  or  wilfully  err  about  the 
subject  handled  here,  and  construe  it  to  this  sense — that 
the  devil  should  be  bound  by  Christ,  that  he  should  not 
persecute,  disturb,  and  disquiet  the  church  as  he  had 
done ;  but  that  all  along  these  thousand  years  there 
should  be  only  a  time  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  and  not 
one  cloud  of  disquietude  or  disturbance  by  the  devil  or 
his  instruments  eclipse  it.  A  sense  as  far  from  the 
Holy  Ghost's  meaning  as  the  east  is  from  the  west. 

*'  There  is  not  one  word  here  of  the  devil's  binding 
that  he  should  not  disturb  the  church,  but  of  the  devil's 


168  TREATISE    ON 

•3 

binding  that  he  should  not  deceive  the  nations.  The 
devil  had  deceived  and  kept  the  poor  heathen  in  deluded- 
ness  by  idols,  oracles,  false  miracles,  horrid  mysteries  of 
irreligiousness,  and  a  thousand  cozenages,  for  above 
two  thousand  years  ;  namely,  from  their  first  casting  oif 
at  the  confusion  of  Babel,  till  the  gospel  was  brought  in 
among  them  by  the  apostles.  By  the  gospel,  Christ 
dissolves  those  charms  of  delusion,  brings  down  idola- 
try, silences  the  devil's  oracles  and  miracles,  and  chains 
up  the  devil  from  that  power  and  liberty  of  deceiving  all 
nations  as  he  had  done. 

"  He  says  the  devil  was  chained  up  in  this  sense  a 
thousand  years,  using  a  known  expression  of  the  Jews, 
and  alluding  to  an  opinion  of  theirs,  partly  that  he  might 
speak  the  more  to  be  understood  when  he  useth  an  ex- 
pression so  well  known — and  partly  that  he  might  face 
the  mistake  of  the  Jews  in  that  opinion.  It  was  their 
conceit  and  fancy  that  Messias,  when  he  should  come, 
should  reign  among  the  Jewish  nation  a  thousand  years, 
but  as  for  the  heathen  he  should  destroy  them.  No, 
saith  our  Apocalyptic  writer,  his  reigning  a  thousand 
years  shall  be  among  the  nations  or  the  Gentiles ;  and 
he  shall  not  come  to  destroy  the  Gentiles,  but  to  deliver 
them  :  to  deliver  them  from  the  power  and  delusions  of 
Satan — to  chain  up  Satan  that  he  shall  deceive  them 
no  more  as  he  had  done  ;  but  that,  whereas  before  for  so 
long  a  time  together  they  had  been  only  taught  of  the 
devil,  now  they  should  all  be  taught  of  God.  And  if 
you  begin  to  count  the  thousand  years  from  the  time 
that  the  gospel  was  first  brought  in  among  the  Gentiles 
by  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  other  of  the  apostles,  you 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  163 

will  find  that  the  end  and  expiring  of  them  will  fall  to 
be  in  the  very  depth  and  thickness  of  popery  ;  and  then 
was  the  devil  got  loose  again,  and  deceived  the  nations 
by  as  gross  and  wretched  delusions  as  ever  he  had  done 
before."* 

We  dissent  from  this  learned  writer  in  respect  to  the 
date  which  he  assigns  to  the  binding  of  Satan  ;  for  it  is 
sufficiently  clear  from  our  preceding  expositions  that 
this  event  did  not  take  place  till  after  the  war  in  heaven, 
and  the  casting  down  of  the  Dragon  from  thence,  or  in 
other  words,  till  after  the  grand  conflict  of  Christianity 
with  Paganism,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  latter,  which 
w^e  have  shown  to  have  occurred  in  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantine.  This  view  of  the  subject  is  evidently  required 
by  the  decorum  of  the  symbols,  for  the  prophet  says, — 
"  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from  heaven ;"  which 
certainly  implies  ;that  the  Dragon  himself  was  not  at 
this  time  in  heaven,  but  had  been  cast  down.  His  bind- 
ing occurred  at  least  a  century  after  his  dejection. 

Among  the  continental  writers  who  have  treated  this 
subject,  the  elder  Turretin  holds  a  conspicuous  place, 
and  his  sentiments  are  thus  expressed  : — 

"As  the  binding  of  Satan  for  a  thousand  years  coin- 
cides with  the  thousand  years  in  which  the  martyrs 
were  to  reign  with  Christ,  if  it  should  appear  that  the 
Millennium  of  Satan's  binding  is  already  past,  from  this 
very  circumstance  it  will  be  clear  that  the  reign  of  a 
thousand  years  has  already  elapsed,  and  is  to  be  no 
more  expected.     But  w-herever  this  binding  of  Satan 

*  Lightfoot's  Works,  vol.  vi.  p.  255. 


164  TREATISE    ON 

begin,  whether  from  the  incarnation  of  our  Saviour,  as 
some  think,  at  which  time  the  strong  one  was  bound  by 
a  stronger,  and  his  vessels  taken  from  him  and  trans- 
ferred out  of  darkness  into  the  kingdom  of  light ;  or — - 
from  his  passion  and  death,  as  appears  best  unto  others, 
on  which  Satan  was  bound  by  Christ,  the  handwriting 
taken  from  him  which  was  contrary  to  us,  his  head 
bruised  and  a  triumph  gained  over  him;  or — at  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  as  others  say,  lest  a  reverence 
remaining  for  legal  ceremonies  should  in  any  way  im- 
pede the  progress  of  the  gospel ;  or — finally,  at  the 
accession  of  Constantine  as  emperor,  which  opinion  is 
the  most  common,  at  which  period  the  free  exercise  of 
religion  was  granted  to  Christians  ;  and  the  consequence 
was,  that  Satan  was  no  longer  openly  permitted  to 
seduce  the  nations  or  persecute  them  through  the  furious 
cruelty  of  heathen  emperors  :  wherever,  I  say,  this  bind- 
ing begin,  it  is  clear  that  the  time  is  long  since  past, 
and  is  no  more  to  be  expected  in  future.  But  though 
in  some  intervals  Satan  was  not  so  bound,  but  that  he 
still  brought  various  evils  on  the  church ;  yet  that  pre- 
diction does  not  fail  of  its  accomplishment,  because  the 
binding  was  not  to  be  absolute,  but  limited."* 

♦  "  Ut  ligatio  Sata^  per  mille  annos  coincidit  annis,  quibus 
Martyri  cum  Christo  regnaturi  sunt ;  si  constet  millennarium 
ligationis  Satanae  jam  lapsum  esse,  eo  patebit  regnum  mille 
annorum  jam  prsBterisse,  neo  amplius  esse  expectandum.  Un- 
dequaque  autem  ista  ligatio  Satanae  inchoetur  ;  vel  a  Serva- 
toris  incarnatione,  ut  quibusdam  placet,  quo  tempore  fortis  a 
fortiori  ligatus  est,  et  ei  erepta  sunt  vasa,  et  e  tenebris  in  reg- 
num  lucis  translata,  Mat.  12.  29  ;  vel  ab  ejus  passione  et  morte, 
ut  aliis  visum,  in  qua  ligatus  est  Satan  per  Christum,  erepto  ei 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  165 

P.  Mastricht,  an  eminent  Professor  of  Theology  at 
Utrecht,  has  expressed  himself  in  similar  language. 
"  The  thousand  years,"  says  he,  "  may  be  understood 
to  have  elapsed  some  time  since,  whether  they  be  reck- 
oned from  the  incarnation  or  death  of  our  Savior,  or 
from  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  or  from  the  death  of 
Constaniine  the  Great.  If  from  the  incarnation,  the 
thousand  years  would  cease  under  Sylvester  II.  ;  if 
from  the  crucifixion,  under  Benedict  IX.  ;  if  from  the 
commencement  of  Constantino's  reign,  under  Boniface 
VIII.,  at  the  rise  of  the  Ottoman  power,  and  when  the 
dreadful  persecutions  of  the  Waldenses  were  raging 
about  the  thirteenth  century.  So  that  the  sense  of  the 
whole  passage  may  be  thus  given  :  Satan,  either  from 
the  incarnation  of  Christ,  or  rather  from  the  reign  of 
Constantino,  was  bound  so  far  that  he  should  not  any 
more  seduce  whole  nations  to  idolatry,  or  cause  such 
bloody  persecutions   of   Christians,   until   the   time   of 

chirographo  quod  nobis  contrarium  erat,  et  contrito  ejus  capite, 
«t  triumpho  de  illo  acto,  Col.  2.  14,  15  ;  Heb.  2.  14 ;  vel  in  ex- 
cidio  Hierosolymitano,  cum  aliis,  ne  legalium  obsoleta  rev- 
erentia  evangelii  cursum  quovis  modo  impediret ;  vel  denique 
in  Constantini  M.  imperio,  ut  pluribus  probatur,  quo  tempori 
liberum  Christianis  concessura  est  religionis  exercitium,  efFect- 
umque,  ut  Satanae  non  amplius  liceret  aperte  et  impune  gentes 
seducere,  et  per  grassantera  imperatorum  gentilium  ssevitiam 
persequi.  Undecunque,  inquam,  ista  ligatio  inchoatur,  liquet 
tempus  hoc  jamdudum  practeriisse,  nee  in  posterum  esse  am- 
plius expectandum.  Licet  autem  in  istis  intervallis  non  ita 
ligatus  fuerit  Satan,  quin  varia  ad  hue  mala  ecclesioe  intulerit ; 
non  desinit  tamen  oraculum  istud  complementum  suum  sortiri ; 
quia  ligatio  ista  non  debuit  esse  absoluta  sed  limitata. — 
F.  Turretini  Institut.  TheoL  p.  650.  1701. 
P 


166  TREATISE  ON 

Boniface  VIII.  in  the  year  1300  ;  then  for  a  short  time, 
that  is,  till  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  he  was  let 
loose  to  seduce  whole  nations,  partly  by  Antichrist, 
then  prevailing  greatly  in  the  West,  and  partly  by  the 
Mohammedan  power  then  extending  its  conquests."* 

J.  Marck,  a  distinguished  divine  of  Ley  den,  thus 
states  his  opinion  :  "  We  believe  that  a  space  perhaps 
about  a  thousand  years  is  intended :  which  began  with 
the  birth  of  Christ,  or  with  his  personal  ministry,  or  at 
his  resurrection,  or  even  with  the  reign  of  Constantine, 
or  at  every  one  of  these  in  succession,  and  flowed  on 
till  it  broke  forth  into  Antichristian  and  Mohammedan 
impiety,  spreading  more  and  still  more.  Satan  was 
then  bound  by  Christ  more  closely  than  before,  by 
being  impeded  in  seducing  the  nations  ;  martyrs  and 
other  believers,  as   it  respects  their  souls,  living  and 

*  Mille  illi  anni,  dudum  prjeterlapsi  intelligi  possunt,  sive 
supputentur  ab  incarnatione,  aut  passione  Servatoris  ;  sive  ab 
excidio  Hierosolymitano  ;  sive  ab  imperio  Constanlini  Magni. 
Si  ab  incarnatione,  desinent  mille  anni  in  Sylvestro  secundo  ; 
si  a  passione,  in  Benedicto  nono  ;  si  ab  excidio  Hierosolymi- 
tano, in  Gregorio  septimo  ;  si  ab  initio  Constantini  M.  in 
abortu  Bonifacii  octavi,  et  in  ortu  familise  Ottomanicae,  et 
Waldensium  funestis  persecutionibus,  circa  seculum  decimum 
tertium.  Ut  sensus  loci  universi  emergat,  Satanam,  sui  ab 
incarnatione  Christi,  sou  potius  ab  imperio  Constantini  M. 
ligatum  fuisse,  catenas,  ut  non  amplius  seduceret  integras 
gentes  ad  idololatriam,  aut  persecutiones  Christianorum  tarn 
cruentas,  usque  ad  Bonifacium  octavum,  anno  MCCC  turn  ad 
breve  tempus,  scil.  usque  ad  reformationis  tempus,  solutum 
fuisse,  ut  seduceret  integras  nationes,  partim  per  Antichristura, 
maxime  turn  invalescentem  in  Occidenti ;  partim  per  Mahum- 
medanum,  turn  exoriens. — Mattricht^  Theol.  vol.  i.  p.  483.  1698. 


THE    MILLENNIUM. 


167 


reigning  with  Christ  on  his  celestial  throne,  and  forward 
to  all  eternity;  while  the  other  dead  lived  not  again  in 
a  similar  way  at  death,  nor  before  it  in  a  saving  conver- 
sion on  this  earth."* 

These  extracts  will,  it  is  presumed,  take  off  the 
odium  of  novelty  from  the  interpretation  now  proposed, 
although  they  may  fail  to  establish  its  justness  to  the 
mind  of  the  reader.  Indeed  they  are  not  adduced  for 
that  purpose.  For  this  we  rely  exclusively  upon  the 
foregoing  train  of  annotation  upon  the  chapters  which 
have  come  under  review,  and  in  which  we  now 
proceed. 

"  And  set  a  seal  upon  him."  The  abyss,  as  we  Lave 
before  remarked,  is  represented  by  the  prophet  under 
the  image  of  a  great  pit  or  de7i,  such  as  slaves  and 
prisoners  were  anciently  confined  in,  as  the  prisons  of 
the  oriental  nations  are  usually,  like  their  graves,  under 
ground,  in  which  respect  they  differ  from  similar  recep- 
tacles among  the  Europeans.  Thus  Is.  24.  22.  '  And 
they    shall    be    gathered    together,    as   prisoners   are 

*  Credimus  innui  circiter  forte  mille  annorum  spatium,  quod 
vel  a  nativitate,  vel  a  prcedicatione,  vel  a  resurrectione  Christi, 
yel  a  Spiritus  efFusione,  vei  a  vastationo  Jerosolymsea,  vel 
etiam  a  Constantini  imperio,  vel  ab  his  omnibus  per  gradus 
successivos,  Antichristianam  et  Mahummedicam  impietatem, 
ligato  turn  a  Christo  Satana  magis  quam  antea,  per  impeditam 
gentium  seductionem  ;  viventibus  et  regnantibus  martyribus  ac 
reliquis  fidelibus  respectu  animarum.  cum  Christo  in  coslesti 
throno,  et  in  omnem  porro  aeternitatem,  dum  non  reviviscebant 
similiter  in  ipsa  morte,  nee  salutari  conversione  ante  cum  his 
in  terris,  reliqui  mortui. — Comp.  Theol.  p.  651.  lert.  ed,  Ara- 
stelod,  1722. 


168  TREATISE    OK 

gathered  in  the  pit^  and  shall  be  shut  up  in  the  prison/ 
It  is  owing  to  this  fact  that  graves  are  frequently  com- 
pared to  prisons,  and  prisons  to  graves,  the  latter  being 
nothing  else  than  subterranean  excavations,  vaulted  and 
walled  with  stone,  or  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and 
having  a  large  stone  to  cover  the  aperture.*  From 
this  circumstance  arose  the  application  of  the  terms 
*  shutting'  and  '  sealing'  to  cells  or  caverns  of  this  kind, 
of  which  the  following  instances  afford  a  pertinent 
illustration,  Dan.  6.  17.  'And  a  stone  was  brought,  and 
laid  upon  the  mouth  of  the  den ;  and  the  king  sealed  it 
with  his  own  signet,  and  with  the  signet  of  his  lords  ; 
that  the  purpose  might  not  be  changed  concerning 
Daniel.'  Mat.  27.  59,  60,  QQ.  *  And  when  Joseph  had 
taken  the  body,  he  wrapped  it  in  a  clean  linen  cloth, 
and  laid  it  in  his  own  new  tomb,  which  he  had  hewn 
out  in  the  rock :  and  he  rolled  a  great  stone  to  the  door 
of  the  sepulchre,  and  departed.-^So  they  went  and  made 
the  sepulchre  sure,  sealing  the  stone,  and  setting  a 
watch.'  As  therefore  in  these  two  passages  it  is  said 
that  a  seal  was  added  for  greater  security,  so  the  angel 
is  here  said  not  only  to  have  '  shut  up'  the  Dragon,  but 
also  to  have  '  set  a  seal'  upon  him.  It  is  observable 
also  that  wells  were  anciently  closed  in  like  manner,  as 
is  evident  from  the  incident  related  Gen.  29.  2,  3.  *And 

*  This  was  the  cuatom  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and,  as  w© 
learn  from  Homer,  of  the  Phrygians  too. 

At^a  ^'  ap  £f  KoWrfv  kuitetov  OiaaV  avrap  virtpOe 
TivKo'lffiv  \aeaai  Karerropaiav  jMcyaXotffu— Iliad,  w.  v.  797. 

Last  o'er  the  urn  the  sacred  earth  they  spread, 
And  raised  the  tomb,  memoiial  of  the  dead. — JPo^€. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  169 

a  great  stone  was  upon  the  welVs  mouth.     And  thither 
were  all  the  flocks  gathered :   and  they  rolled  the  stone 
from  the  welPs  mouth,  and  watered  the  sheep,  and  put 
the   stone   again  upon  the  well's  mouth,  in  his  place.' 
Thus  Cant.   4.   12.  the  Bride  is  compared  to  a  '  well 
shut  up'  to  preserve  its  water  pure  from  defilement,  and 
to  a  '  fountain  sealed* — Tr^jyj)  iTcppotyitry^m.     The  Hebrew 
Dnn  signifies  both  to  *  shut'  and  to  '  seal ;'  and  Hesy- 
chius  defines  (ppu^ccf^evoi,  having  sealed^  by  tcXeiTugf  hav- 
ing shut.      So    the    poet   Aristophanes,   whose   plays 
abound  with  allegories,  introduces  Peace  as  having  been 
before   thrown  into   a  dungeon,  the  entrance  of  which 
was  blocked  up  with  stones,  to  denote  the  difficulty  of 
securing  its  presence  among  men.     Indeed  any  thing 
that  is  said  to  be  '  sealed'  is  supposed  to  be  out  of  use 
and    unknown    till    it  is  re-opened.     Accordingly   the 
effectual  restrainttl^id  upon  Paganism  during  the  period 
in  question,  answers,  with  great  exactness,  to  the  drift 
of  the  symbols  employed,  where  the  gradations  in  the 
process  of  the  Dragon's  seizure  and  confinement  are  very 
clearly  marked:  he  is  taken — hound — cast  into  the  abyss 
— shut  up — and  sealed,  and  thus  fully  secured  in  what 
is  afterward,  v.  7.  expressly  termed  his  *  prison.' 

"That  he  should  deceive  the  nations  no  more." 
The  e6v)},  nations,  here  spoken  of  are  the  nations  occu- 
pying the  territories  of  the  Roman  empire  or  the  people 
of  Christendom,  in  contradistinction  from  the  nations  of 
the  '  abyss,'  or  the  idolatrous  tribes  lying  without  the 
limits  of  the  imperial  jurisdiction.  These  converted 
'nations,'  during  the  period  specified,  although  they 
wexe  to  be  subjected  to  the  Beast,  and  brought  uadey 
P2 


170  TREATISE  OW 

the  baleful  influence  of  a  corrupt  Christianity^  yet  they 
were  to  be  exempted  from  that  peculiar  form  of  '  decep- 
tion,' or  delusion,  which  consisted  in  the  open  embracing^ 
of  the  abominations  of  Paganism.  There  was  much 
indeed  of  the  spirit  of  Paganism  in  the  corrupt  doc- 
trines and  practices  of  the  Romish  church,  for  the 
ecclesiastical  Beast  is  said  to  have  '  spoke  as  the 
Dragon,''  but  still  it  is  not  called  in  the  prophecy  by 
that  name.  The  same  body  of  men  are  nowhere  said 
to  be,  at  the  same  time,  under  the  governance  both  of 
the  Dragon  and  the  Beast.  They  are  the  symbolical 
representatives  of  two  distinct  communities,  the  one 
nominally  Christian,  the  other  positively  Pagan.  They 
embrace  therefore  in  reality  the  two  grand  divisions  of 
mankind,  the  Christian  and  the  Heathen,  and  in  the  re- 
spective fates  of  each  we  are  instructed  in  the  final 
destiny  of  those  portions  of  these  two  great  bodies  which 
persist  in  rejecting  the  everlasting  gospel  preached  by 
the  angel  flying  through  the  midst  of  heaven,  and  in 
pertinaciously  adhering  to  their  fatal  delusions. 

But  in  what  sense  was  the  Dragon  to  be  restrained 
from  *  deceiving'  the  nations  1  The  character  of  the 
power  by  which  the  *  deceit'  is  to  be  practised,  will 
doubtless  go  far  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  *  deceit' 
itself,  and  this  we  have  already  settled  in  our  preceding 
explanations.  The  Dragon  is  Paganism ;  his  *  deceiv- 
ing' the  nations,  therefore,  is  his  seducing  them  into  idol- 
atry;  and  the  consequence  of  his  being  bound  is  a 
happy  immunity  from  his  diabolical  arts  enjoyed  by 
those  who  were  formerly  his  victims.  This  interpreta- 
tion, however,  of  the  original  term  2rA«v};o-J7,  should  de- 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  171 

ceive,  it  will  be  proper  to  confirm  by  adducing-  the  usage 
of  the  sacred  writers,  and  showing  that  it  has  unequiv- 
ocally the  sense  of  doctrinal  imposture^  or  of  enticing 
men  to  the  adoption  of  a  false  religion.  As  the  style  of 
the  Apocalypse  is  essentially  Hebraic  in  its  character, 
its  only  adequate  illustration  is  to  be  drawn  from  the 
language  of  the  0.  T.  Scriptures  as  rendered  in  the 
Septuagint  version.  The  pertinency  of  the  following 
citations  will  be  too  obvious  to  escape  the  most  casual 
eye.  Deut.  4.  19.  'And  lest  thou  lift  up  thine  eyes 
unto  heaven,  and  when  thou  seest  the  sun  and  the  moon 
and  the  stars,  even  all  the  host  of  heaven  jrAav^j^f/j 
v^orKvvyi(n^(iotvTQii — being  deceived  shouldst  worship  them,* 
Here  is  obviously  enticement  to  idolatry.  Again,  Deut. 
30.  17.  'But  if  thine  heart  turn  away,  so  that  thou 
wilt  not  hear,  but  7rXxvi}6ug  '^poa-KuV7i<7Vii  Seok;  ere^oti — being 
deceived  shah  wqrship  other  gods.''  Deut.  11.  28.  'And 
a  curse,  if  ye  will  not  obey  the  commandments  of  the 
Lord  your  God,  but  ^rAotvjj^JiTe  «7ro  t«5  o<5ow — are  deceived, 
or  err,  out  of  the  way,  which  I  command  you  this  day, 
to  go  after  other  gods  which  ye  have  not  known.'  Deut. 
13.  5.  '  And  that  prophet,  or  that  dreamer  of  dreams, 
shall  be  put  to  death,  because  he  hath  spoken  TrXctnToti 
ere  ttTio  KvpUv  reZ  6eou  <rcv — to  deceive  thee  from  (following) 
the  Lord  thy  God:  2  Kings  21.  9.  'And  Manasseh 
c9rAfltyj3«y  ctvrov<i^  seduced  them  to  do  more  evil  than  did 
the  nations  whom  the  Lord  destroyed.'  The  nature  of 
this  '  seduction'  is  fully  explained  in  the  preceding 
verses,  where  Manas&eh  is  said  to  have  '  reared  altars 
for  Baal' — '  made  a  grove' — '  worshipped  all  the  host 
of  heaven' — '  made  his  sons  pass  through  the  fire'—- 


172  TREATISE    ON 

*  set  up  a  graven  image  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,'  &e. 
implying  the  complete  institution  of  idolatrous  worship. 
Jer.  23.  13.  'And  I  have  seen  folly  in  the  prophets  of 
Samaria ;  they  prophesied  in  Baal,  xai  £7rXuvi}<rxv  rov 
Afltov  i^ov — and  caused  my  people  to  err ;'  i.  e.  by  teaching 
them  false  doctrines.  Thus  also  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, Mat.  24.  11.  'And  many  false  prophets  shall  rise, 
and  ^Xxvijtrova-i  TcoXKovti — shall  deceive  many ;'  i.  e.  by 
misleading  them  from  the  truth.  Mat.^  24.  24.  '  Inso- 
much, that  if  it  were  possible  they  should  7rXxvti<rctt — 
deceive  the  very  elect.'  John  7.  12.  '  Some  said,  Pie 
is  a  good  man  :  others  said.  Nay,  ttXuvZ  rov  o^Xov — lie 
deceiveth  the  people ;'  i.  e.  he  instils  error  into  their 
minds.  The  word  occurs  in  the  same  sense  of  per- 
verse religious  teaching  in  several  instances  in  the  com- 
pass of  the  Revelation.  Thus  Rev.  2.  20.  '  Thou  suf- 
ferest  that  woman  Jezebel,  which  calleth  herself  a 
prophetess,  to  teach  and  TrXecvovo-Sai  s/Lcovis  ^ovXovi — to 
seduce  my  servants  to  commit  fornication,  and  to  eat 
things  sacrificed  unto  idols.'  Rev.  13.  14.  '  And  TrXenv^ 
deceiveth  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  by  means  of  those 
miracles  which  he  had  power  to  do,'  i.  e.  inveigles  into 
idolatrous  worship. 

Daubuz,  after  adverting  to  the  opinion  of  Lactantius 
and  Augustin  that  there  would  still  be  idolaters  remain- 
ing on  earth  during  the  entire  lapse  of  the  millennial 
age,  intimates  that  in  his  own  judgment,  "  These  nations 
shall  be,  during  the  imprisonment  of  Satan,  in  so  small 
a  number,  and  so  remote  from  the  Holy  City,  and  sub- 
ject to  the  converted  nations — being  perhaps  such  as  lie 
now  in  the  utmost  boundaries  of  the  inhabitable  world 


( 


-    THE    MILLENNIUM.  173 

— and  so  barbarous  and  inaccessible  to  the  rest  of 
mankind,  and  at  the  same  time  so  feeble  in  comparison 
of  the  true  Christians,  that  they  shall  neither  dare  nor 
be  able  to  disturb  the  peace  of  Christ's  kmgdom  during 
all  the  time  of  the  millennium."*  But  if  such  were  to 
be  the  state  of  things  during  the  long  period  of  Satan's 
restraint,  it  may  be  thought  that  a  melancholy  contrast 
is  presented  in  the  fact,  that  after  its  termination  he  was 
again  to  be  let  loose  from  his  prison,  to  go  forth  in  all 
the  potency  of  his  uifernal  machinations,  to  re-establish 
his  dominion  over  the  infatuated  minds  of  men,  and 
to  act  over  again  the  same  sad  scenes  of  despotic 
cruelty  and  idolatrous  delusion  which  marked  his  ancient 
ascendancy.  But  the  prophetic  oracles  afford  no 
ground  for  such  a  sombre  vein  of  anticipation.  It  is 
obvious  that  it  was  but  to  a  very  limited  extent  that 
Satan,  subsequent  to  his  liberation  from  the  Abyss, 
should  be  permitted  to  renew  his  diabolical  arts.  It  is 
said,  indeed,  that  he  should  be  '  loosed,'  yet  it  was  to 
be  only  '  for  a  little  season,'  nor  are  we  any  where 
given  to  understand,  that  the  church  of  Christ  should 
be  again  effectually  overcome  by  her  old  enemy. 
She  doubtless  was  to  continue  triumphant  to  the  end  of 
the  world.  The  event  announced  points  rather  to  an 
enlargement  of  territory  than  to  an  increase  of  subjects 
on  the  part  of  Paganism.  Numerous  hordes  of  barba- 
rians might  indeed  issue  forth  from  the  regions  of  the 
*  Abyss,'  and  plant  their  heathen  ensigns  all  around  the 
precincts   of  Christendom,  overrunning   perhaps   her 

*  Perpet,  Comment,  p,  924. 


174  TREATISE    ON  * 

fairest  provinces,  but  it  would  be  an  invasion,  not  a  ■■ 
mission,  a  project  for  making  captives,  rather  than  pro- 
selytes ;  and  though  the  people  of  God  might  in  conse- 
quence be  compelled  within  narrower  limits,  yet  there 
is  no  intimation  that  they  were  to  prove  apostate.  If 
they  fell  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  liberated  Dragon, 
it  was  to  be  as  the  sheep  fall  under  the  power  of  the 
prowling  wolf.  All  the  advantages  which  Paganism 
should  gain  over  Christianity,  were  to  be  attained  by 
conquest  and  not  by  conversion. — But  this  is  anticipating 
our  ensuing  expositions. 

"  Till  the  thousand  years  should  be  fulfilled."  The 
question  has  been  often  agitated  among  commentators 
whether  this  period  was  to  be  understood  in  its  most 
literal  acceptation,  as  designating  the  term  of  precisely 
one  thousand  solar  or  civil  years,  or  whether  it  denoted 
a  period  of  one  thousand  prophetic  years,  a  lapse  of  time 
equivalent  to  360,000  civil  years.  It  has  been  deemed 
repugnant  to  our  conceptions  of  the  wisdom  and  goodnesst 
of  the  Most  High  to  suppose  that  he  would  allow  so 
much  longer  a  term  for  the  reign  of  sin  on  earth  than 
for  the  reign  of  righteousness ;  and  conceiving  the  Mil- 
lennium to  point  to  a  period  yet  future,  they  have  been 
anxious  to  find  some  warrant  for  prolonging  the  term  to 
a  far  greater  extent  than  is  implied  in  its  literal  desig- 
nation. And  since  a  less  period  of  time  is  in  several 
instances  in  the  Apocalypse  employed  as  the  symbol  of 
a  greater,  as  a  *  day'  for  a  '  year,'  a  *  month'  or  30  days 
for  30  'years,'  &:c.  so  the  term  'years'  is  here  inter- 
preted on  the  same  principle,  and  evolved  into  the  long 
duration  mentioned  above.     But  the  idiom  of  symbolic 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  175 

language,  if  we  mistake  not,  forbids  this  construction, 
and  ties  down  the  expression  to  the  sense  of  a  thousand 
literal  or  civil  years.  In  the  prophetic  style  a  '  day,' 
which  is  the  complete  revolution  of  the  earth  round  its 
own  axis,  is  the  symbol  for  a  year,  which  is  the  com- 
plete revolution  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit  round  the  sun. 
The  lesser  revolution  in  this  case  is  the  symbol  of 
the  greater  revolution  of  the  same  kind.  But  in  those 
early  ages  of  society  in  which  the  symbolical  lan- 
guage was  first  adopted,  the  state  of  astronomical 
knowledge  did  not  lead  men  to  perceive  any  greater 
revolutions  of  the  earth  by  which  time  is  measured  ; 
and  for  which  a  year,  as  the  lesser  revolution,  might  have 
been  the  proper  symbolical  character.  Accordingly,  in 
fact,  the  original  word  (erj?),  which  expresses  the  civil 
year,  and  is  the  word  exclusively  used  in  this  pas- 
sage, does  not  appear  to  be  employed  as  a  symbol  by 
any  of  the  prophets,  either  in  the  Old  or  New  Testa- 
ment.* If  they  predicted  a  very  long  period  of  time, 
for  which  a  year  might  be  a  more  convenient  symbol 
than  a  day,  they  always  take  another  word  than  a  year 
to  signify  360  prophetic  days,  as  many  civil  years. 
Thus  Daniel,  ch.  7.  25.  employs  the  expression  '  a  time, 
times,  and  the  dividing  of  time  ;'  and  John,  Rev.  12.  14. 
*  a  time,  times,  and  half  a  time.' 

It  may  be  observed,  moreover,  that  even  on  the 
ground  of  the  common  theory  of  the  Millennium,  which 
considers  it  as   answering  antitypically  to  the  seventh 

*  The  word  occurring  Rev.  9.  15.  is  not  hog^  but  iviavTov^ 
signifying  indefinitely  a  revolution^  or  that  which  returns  into 
itself. 


176  TREATISE    ON 

day  of  the  Creation,  it  entirely  destroys  the  analogy  to 
assign  to  the  seventh  millennary  a  longer  term  of  years 
than  to  either  of  the  six  preceding.  If  the  six  thousand 
years  destined  to  elapse  prior  to  the  seventh,  the  great 
sabbatism  of  the  world,  are  to  be  understood  literally, 
why  not  the  seventh  thousand  also  ?  Is  not  the  Sab- 
bath composed  of  the  same  number  of  hours  as  the  rest 
of  the  days  of  the  week  1 

But  our  interpretation  of  this  whole  subject  encounters 
no  difficulty  whatever  from  this  source.  As  we  con- 
sider the  Millennium  as  long  since  past — taking  the 
term  of  course  in  its  literal  acceptation — we  know  of  no* 
thing  to  straiten  us  in  the  assignation  of  the  chronologi- 
cal futurities  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth.  We 
feel  ourselves  at  full  liberty  to  give  their  utmost  latitude 
to  the  expressions  of  the  prophet ; — "  The  God  of 
heaven  shall  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  never  be 
destroyed :  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other 
people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all 
these  kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  for  ever."*  "  But  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High  shall  take  the  kingdom,  and 
possess  the  kingdom  for  ever,  even  for  ever  and  ever.^j 
The  prosperous  and  glorious  state  which  we  are  taught 
to  anticipate  for  the  church  on  earth  is  not,  that  we  can 
learn,  limited  or  defined  by  any  boundaries  of  time  what- 
ever. An  immeasurable  lapse  of  ages  stretches  before 
us,  offering  '  ample  room  and  verge  enough'  for  the  phy- 
sical, intellectual,  and  moral  improvement  of  the  human 
race.     A  new  and  brighter  career  is  yet  to  be  run  by 

*  Dan.  2.  44.  t  Dan.  7.  18. 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  177 

the  regenerated  family  of  man  ;  nor  is  the  prospect,  as 
W€  read  the  revelations  of  heaven,  clouded  by  those 
portentous  Magellanic  shadows  which  to  the  mass  of 
the  Christian  world  gather  round  the  closing  period  of 
their  Millennium.  But  this  is  a  point  to  be  proved,  and 
not  barely  asserted.  The  idea  will  be  expanded  in  the 
sequel. 

"  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  .them,  and 
judgment  was  given  unto  them :  and  I  saw  the  souls  of 
them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and 
for  the  word  of  God,  and  which  had  not  worshipped 
the  beast,  neither  his  image,  neither  had  received  his 
mark  upon  their  foreheads,  or  in  their  hands  ;  and  they 
lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years."  We 
are  fully  aware  that  upon  the  sense  ordinarily  attributed 
to  this  passage  will  be  founded  the  most  formidable  ob- 
jection which  can^  be  urged  against  the  views  of  the 
Millennium  advocated  in  this  treatise.  It  has  been  so 
common  to  regard  the  millennial  period,  announced  in 
the  Apocalypse,  as  but  another  name  for  every  species 
of  temporal  and  spiritual  prosperity  to  be  enjoyed  on 
earth  during  that  extended  term  of  years,  that  the  at- 
tempt to  shake  this  'throned  opinion'  will  doubtless 
have  very  much  the  air,  and  perhaps  the  effect,  of  un- 
dertaking to  controvert  a  self-evident  proposition.  If  the 
language  of  the  prophet — it  will  be  said — in  the  vision 
before  us,  does  not  point  to  a  positively  and  pre- 
eminently blissful  state  of  the  church  and  the  world, 
when  wars,  and  discord,  and  bloodshed  shall  cease, 
when  truth  shall  have  supplanted  error,  and  righteous- 
ness sin,  and  the  whole  human  race  shall  have  been 

Q 


178  TREATISE    ON 

moulded  into  one  grand  fraternity  of  love,  where,  in  the 
entire  compass  of  revelation,  is  the  promise  of  any  such 
blessedness  contained  ?  And  as  to  the  hypothesis  of 
the  Millennium  being  already  past,  where,  in  the  annals 
of  history,  has  any  such  period  occurred  1  What  are 
the  events  which,  by  any  stretch  of  ingenuity,  can  be 
made  to  answer  to  the  grand  and  glorious  predictions 
of  this  chapter?  When  and  where  in  the  ages  past 
have  the  thrones  been  set,  and  the  souls  of  the  be- 
headed martyrs  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  in  the 
triumphs  of  the  first  resurrection  1  These,  we  readily 
admit,  are  imposing  questions,  presenting  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  our  interpretation  of  a  very  plausible  charac- 
ter. Still  we  do  not  despair  of  meeting  them  all  with  a 
satisfactory  reply.  But  in  doing  so,  we  must  discard 
every  arbitrary  construction,  and  adhere  rigidly  to  the 
laws  of  symbolical  interpretation,  the  neglect  of  which, 
if  we  mistake  not,  will  be  found  to  have  given  all  its 
force  to  the  objection  now  stated.  Bringing  then  the 
common  theory  of  the  Millennium  to  this  standard  for 
trial,  what  is  there,  we  ask,  in  the  nature  of  the  symbols 
employed,  which  imperatively  requires  us  to  regard 
them  as  shadowing  forth  a  slate  of  things  peculiarly  and 
transcendantly  prosperous  1  We  have  already  seen  that 
the  act  of '  the  binding  of  Satan,'  as  far  as  the  interests 
of  the  church  are  concerned,  is  merely  a  negative  act, 
denoting  simply  the  withdrawment  of  his  influences,  ex- 
erted in  a  peculiar  form,  from  the  precincts  of  Christen- 
dom ;  but  as  to  the  actual  state  of  the  Christian  world  in 
the  mean  time,  we  derive  no  information  from  this  cir- 
cumstance.    Whether  it  were  in  reality  prosperous  or 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  179 

adverse  we  are  to  learn  from  other  sources.     This  how- 
ever is  a  matter  on  which  it  was  obviously  very  important 
that  the  prophet,  as  the  representative  of  the  church, 
should  be  particularly  instructed.     While  Paganism  was 
banished  from  its  primitive  seats,  and  shut  up  among 
the  idolatrous  tribes  of  northern  and  eastern  Asia,  what, 
in  the  mean  time,  was  the  condition  of  Europe,  the  theatre 
of  the  fortunes  of  Christianity  ?     The  banishment  of  the 
Dragon  had  cleared  the  stage  for  the  transaction  of  a 
new  series  of  events,  which  were  to  run  parallel  with 
the  term  of  his  imprisonment,  and  the  scope  of  the  Holy 
Spirit   in  the  passage  before  us   is  unquestionably  to 
portray,  under  appropriate  imagery,  the  most  remarkable 
occurrences  of  that  period.     He  accordingly  in  this 
verse  makes  a  transition  from  the  realms  of  Paganism 
to  those  of  Christendom,  and  gives  us  the  leading  fea- 
tures of  the  state/ of  the  Christianized  world  during  the 
thousand  years  that  elapsed  from  the  binding  of  Satan, 
and  while  the  Beast  held  his  baneful  ascendancy  over 
that  portion  of  the  globe.     But  the  times  of  the  Bea&t 
were  pre-eminently  disastrous  times,  and  consequently 
we  look  in  vain  for  a  season  of  general  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness during  the  true  era  of  the  Apocalyptic  Millennium. 
We  speak  confidently  on  this  point,  for  it  follows  as  an 
irresistible  conclusion  from  what  we  have  already  deter- 
mined respecting   the  period  of  Satan's  binding.     So 
surely  as  we  have  rightly  fixed  the  chronology  of  that 
event,  so  surely  does  it  coincide  with  a  thousand  years 
of  the  reign  of  the  Beast,  and  consequently  cannot  desig- 
nate that  halcyon  Millennium  which  is  usually  anticipated. 
There  is  no  possible  way  that  we  can  conceive  of  over- 


180  TREATISE    ON 

throwing  this  conclusion,  but  by  first  disproving  our  in- 
terpretation of  the  main  symbol,  the  Dragon.  For  if  the 
Dragon  be  Paganism,  the  binding  of  the  Dragon  is  the 
suppression  of  Paganism  within  the  limits  of  the  Roman 
world,  and  as  history  makes  it  evident  that  that  event 
has  long  since  transpired,  the  prevailing  expectation  on 
that  subject  as  of  something  yet  future  is  altogether 
fallacious. 

But  what  were  the  objects  presented  to  the  prophetic 
ken  of  the  apostle  in  this  part  of  the  vision  ?  They 
were  such,  indubitably,  though  clothed  in  a  mystic 
dress,  as  to  correspond  with  the  actual  state  of  things 
as  described  by  the  pen  of  history.  Upon  recurrence 
then  to  the  records  of  the  times  we  find,  that  during  the 
greater  portion  of  that  period  the  several  independent 
kingdoms,  from  which  the  modern  despotic  states  of 
Europe  are  descended,  denoted  by  the  ten  horns  of  the 
Beast,  were  subsisting  and  continually  acquiring  more 
vigor,  and  exercising  a  wider  sway.  We  term  them  '  in- 
dependent ;'  for  although  they  submitted  to  the  spiritual 
jurisdiction  of  the  Pope,  yet,  politically  considered,  they 
were  governed  by  laws  and  constitutions  of  their  own 
framing,  and  were  wholly  independent  of  any  foreign 
power.  They  are  said  indeed  to  have  agreed  to  give 
their  power  and  strength  to  the  Beast ;  or,  in  other 
words,  to  have  devoted  their  service  and  support  to  the 
upholding  of  the  interests  of  that  vast  fabric  of  secular 
dominion  adumbrated  by  the  Beast,  and  they  are  else^ 
where  termed  '  the  kings  (kingdoms)  of  the  earth'  over 
which  *  the  great  city,'  represented  hy  the  mystic  Woman^ 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  181 

bare  rule  ;  yet  they  were  nevertheless,  as  viewed  in  rela- 
tion to  each  other,  and  to  every  other  mere  civil  power, 
strictly  independent.     It  is  accordingly,  we  suppose,  to 
these    several  independent  sovereignties,  as  the   most, 
prominent  objects  of  prophetic  vision  on  the  European 
platform,  that  the  words  of  John  distinctly  refer.    "  I  saw 
thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them  (a  Hebraism  for  '  they 
were  sat  upon'),  and  judgment  was  given  to  them  (i.  e. 
to  their  occupants)."     The  meaning  we   apprehend  to 
be,  that  he  saw  thrones  erected  and  occupied  in  Eng- 
land, France,   Spain,    Portugal,  Italy,   and    Germany, 
where  there  had  been  but  one  throne  before  ;  and  those 
who  sat  upon  them  were,  in  the  counsels  of  Providence, 
invested  with  royal  authority  to  order  at  their  pleasure 
the  affairs  of  the  nations  which  they  governed.     As  this 
however  is  an  interpretation  of  the  phrase  *  judgment 
was  given  to  therii,'  upon  which  much  depends  in  our 
general  expose  of  the  meaning  of  the  passage,  it  behoves 
us  to   endeavour  to  confirm  it  from  the  usage  of  the 
sacred  writers.    The  original  Heb.  word  £33  ti'Di  of  which 
the  Greek  K^if^cet^  judgment,  is  a  translation,  is  a  deriva- 
tive from  the  verb  DSB',  signifying  to  judge,  discern^ 
deterrrdne,  order,  regulate,  direct,  and  is  in  several  in- 
stances equivalent  to  reigning,  or  exercising  authority 
as  a  ruler  and  a  prince.     Thus  Judg.  16.  31.  *  And  he 
£DD'^,  judged   Israel   twenty  years ;'    i.  e.    governed. 
1  Sam.  8.  20.  '  That  we  also  may  be  like  all  the  na- 
tions ;  and  that  our  king  IJ^^'ky,  may  judge  us;'  i.  e. 
may  rule  over  us.     As   to   the    substantive  tpspD,  to 
which  the  Greek  K^if^x  or  k^iti^  answers,   Lowth   re-. 
Q2 


182  TREATISE    Off 

marks,  that  '  it  is  taken  in  a  great  latitnde  of  significa- 
tion. It  means  rule,  form,  order,  model,  plan,  rule  of 
right,  or  of  religion ;  an  ordinance,  institution ;  judicial 
process,  cause,  trial,  sentence,  condemnation,  acquittal 
deliverance,  mercy,'  &c.*  Thus  Ps.  72.  1.  *  Give  the 
king  ihy  judgments,  0  God  ;'  Gr.  r\  K^ifjut  rov  r^  &xTtx&! 
^J?,  i.  e.  grant  to  the  king  commission  to  execute  thy 
judgments,  in  punishing  oifendersy  and  discerning  be- 
tween the  faithful  and  the  false  among  thy  people. 
Ps.  119.84.  'When  wilt  thou  execute  judgment  (Gr, 
K^itrtv)  on  them  that  persecute  me  V  i.  e.  inflict  punish- 
ment. Numerous  passages  to  the  same  effect  might 
be  readily  adduced,  from  which  the  inference  can 
scarcely  fail  to  be  drawn,  that  by  judgment's  being  given 
to  those  that  sat  on  the  thrones,  is  meant,  that  they  re- 
ceived authority  to  reign  and  govern,  or  the  right  of  ex' 
ercising  judgment,  according  to  the  Hebrew  sense  of  the 
word  '  judge,'  which  is  equivalent  to  that  of  '  reigning,' 
or  putting  forth  the  judicial  and  executive  acts  of  the 
governing  power.  The  drift  of  the  language  is  to  in- 
form us,  that  the  providence  of  God  for  wise  reasons  had 
permitted  these  sovereign  powers  to  attain  to  a  suprem- 
acy, which  enabled  them  by  their  unrighteous  statutes 
and  exactions  to  exert  an  oppressive  influence  on  the 
true  church.  In  consequence,  therefore,  of  this  provi- 
dential license,  they  passed  their  cruel  and  condemna- 
tory sentences  against  the  faithful  followers  of  the  Lamb, 
adjudging  to  tortures  and  to  death  those  who  persisted 

*  Lowth  on  Is.  4?,  1. 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  183 

in  a  steadfast  witnessing  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and 
in  an  unshaken  refusal  to  worship  the  Beast,  whose 
power  these  kings  had  pledged  themselves  to  uphold, 
or  to  receive  his  insignia  on  their  foreheads  or  in  their 
hands. 

"We  are  aware  that  Mede  and  many  other  interpreters 
have,  from  the  similarity  of  language  of  the  two 
prophets,  applied  the  vision  of  Daniel,  eh.  7.  9-27,  to 
this  part  of  the  Revelation.  Daniel  does,  indeed,  speak 
of '  thrones,'  v.  9.  but  it  is  of  thrones  which  were  *  cast 
down,'  or  violently  subverted.  He  speaks  also  of  the 
*  judgment  sitting,'  and  of 'judgment  being  given  to  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High,'  but  by  this  latter  expression 
is  evidently  implied  that  judgment  or  sentence  was  given 
in  favour  of  the  saints^  instead  of  against  them,  as  was 
the  case  in  John's  vision,  and  undoubtedly  points  to  a 
time  subsequent  to^that  spoken  of  in  the  Apocalypse,  a 
time  when  the  saints  and  martyrs  should  be  rewarded 
by  a  'judgment'  of  approbation  and  blessedness  in  view 
of  their  fidelity  and  constancy  in  suffering  the  effects  of 
the  '  judgments'  which  these  despotic  '  thrones'  had  pre- 
viously inflicted  upon  them.  The  vision  of  Daniel,  in 
fact,  and  the  'judgment'  to  which  he  alludes,  has  a 
prospective  reference  to  the  vindicatory  judgment  of  the 
seventh  Trumpet;  Rev.  11.  18.  'And  thy  wrath  is 
come,  and  the  time  of  the  dead,  that  they  should  be 
judged,  and  that  thou  shouldst  give  reward  unto  thy 
servants  the  prophets,  and  to  the  saints,  and  them  that 
fear  thy  name,  small  and  great ;  and  shouldst  destroy 
them  which  destroy  the  earth.'  The  visions  of  the  two 
prophets,  therefore,  though  couched  in  analogous  Ian- 


184  TREATISE    ON 

guage,  refer  to  entirely  distinct  events,  and  to  periods  of 
time  separated  by  an  interval  of  several  hundred  years. 

But  there  were  other  objects  embraced  in  the  scenic 
representation  made  to  the  intellectual  eye  of  the  seer. 
*'  I  saw  the  souls  (-^^x^^)  of  them  that  were  beheaded 
for  the  witness  of  Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,"  &;c. 
That  is,  he  saw  those  who  worshipped  not  the  beast, 
and  were  suffering  under  the  unrighteous  edicts  of  these 
'  thrones,'  the  organs  of  papal  persecution,  as  confessors 
and  martyrs  in  defence  of  the  pure  unadulterated  reli- 
gion of  Jesus  ;  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  in  France, 
the  Lollards  in  Germany  and  England,  and  others  in 
other  quarters  of  Europe,  who  held  to  kindred  views 
of  the  truth ;  as  such  there  were  dispersed  throughout 
Christendom  during  the  darkest  days  of  the  church,  a 
holy  and  blessed  band  of  recusants  against  the  preten- 
sions and  claims  of  the  Man  of  Sin,  while  the  mighty 
fabric  of  his  power  was  towering  up  towards  heaven. 

But  can  this  interpretation  be  established  from  a  fair 
and  unforced  exegesis  of  the  text  ?  Of  this  let  the  reader 
judge.  We  proceed  to  lay  before  him  the  evidence 
on  which  it  is  founded.  It  is  all  along  to  be  borne  in 
mind  that  John,  in  witnessing  the  visionary  scenes  de- 
scribed in  the  Revelation,  is  under  the  influence  of  a 
prophetic  ecstasy,  or  supernatural  illapse  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  In  this  state  the  functions  of  the  external  senses 
are  in  abeyance,  and  the  objects  seen  are  exhibited  ex- 
clusively to  the  mental  perception  of  the  beholder.  The 
prophet'^s  imagination  is  made,  by  the  special  operation  of 
divine  power,  a  canvass  on  which  the  various  objects 
and  agents  of  the  vision  are  depicted ;  or  rather  it  be- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  186 

comes,  if  we  may  so  say,  the  screen  on  which  the 
shadowy  forms  of  the  mystic  diorama  are  thrown,  and 
made  to  pass  in  review,  like  the  scenery  produced  by  the 
art  of  the  optician.  If,  therefore,  either  living  men  or 
lifeless  corpses  are  introduced  into  the  train  of  the 
visionary  objects,  it  is  obvious  that  they  would  appear 
to  him  as  the  phantasms  of  a  dream,  mere  images,  forms, 
shadows,  Uke  the  umhrm  or  ghosts,seen  byiEneas  in  the 
Elysian  fields.  So  Ezekiel,  m  the  description  of  the 
vision  of  the  cherubic  throne,  ch.  1.  26.  says;  'And 
upon  the  likeness  of  the  throne  was  the  likeness  as  the 
appearance  of  a  man  above  upon  it.'  Now  we  think  it 
may  be  shown  that  the  most  appropriate  term  in  biblical 
Greek  for  the  expression  of  this  idea  is  -^vp^rj,  answering 
to  the  Latin  anima^  soul,  the  word  here  employed.  A 
very  slight  inspection  of  the  original  scriptures  will 
evince  that  the  serise  ordinarily  affixed  to  the  English 
word  soul,  implying  a  disembodied  immaterial  spirit,  by 
no  means  answers  to  the  predominant  import  of  either 
the  Hebrew  2/33,  or  the  Greek  •^^x'*^'  ^^  ^^  usage  of 
the  sacred  writers  its  leading  sense  is  that  of  persons. 
Thus  Gen.  17.  '  That  soul  (Gr.  ^vx^,  person)  shall  be 
cut  off.'  Ex.  1.  5.  'All  the  souls  (Gr.  id.)  that  came 
out  of  the  loins  of  Jacob.'.  Lev.  4.  2.  '  If  a  soul  (Gr. 
id.)  shall  sin  through  ignorance.'  v.  27.  ''li  any  one 
(Gr.  id.)  of  the  common  people  sin  through  ignorance.' 
Lev.  7.  20.  '  But  the  soul  (Gr.  id.)  that  eateth  of  the 
flesh  of  the  sacrifice.'  Lev.  22.  11.  '  If  the  priest  buy 
any  soul  (Gr.  id.)  with  his  money.'  Dent.  24.  7.  '  If 
a  man  be  found  stealing  any  (Gr.  id.)  of  his  brethren.* 
2  Sam.  14.  14.  '  Neither  doth  God  respect  any  person* 


186  TREATISE    ON 

(Gr.  id.)'  Ezek.  27.  13.  '  They  traded  the ^^cr^on*  (Gr. 
id.)  of  men.'  Acts  2.  43.  '  Fear  came  upon  every  soul 
(Gr.  id.).'  2  Pet.  2. 14.  'Beguihng  unstable  souls  (Gr. 
id.).'  Rev.  18.  13.  'The  merchandize  of  gold  and 
silver, — and  slaves  and  souls  (Gr.  id.)  of  men.'  It  is 
obvious  that  in  all  these  instances  the  acceptation  of  the 
term  has  no  relation  to  the  soul  in  contradistinction  from 
the  body  ;  and  the  biblical  student  who  has  never  made 
the  scriptural  usus  loquendi  in  respect  to  this  word  a 
matter  of  critical  examination  will  be  surprised,  upon 
reference  to  a  concordance,  to  find  how  very  few  are  the 
cases  in  which  it  can  possibly  be  understood  as  equiva- 
lent to  our  English  term  '  soul'  in  its  metaphysical  sense. 
Indeed  he  will  perhaps  cease  to  wonder  that  some  able 
Christian  writers  have  seriously  doubted  whether  it  ever 
really  bears  that  sense  at  all,  or,  in  other  words,  whether 
the  doctrine  of  the  intermediate  separate  state  of  human 
spirits  can  be  solidly  supported  merely  upon  the  scrip- 
tural usage  of  this  and  its  kindred  terms.*  But  that  it 
cannot  have  this  sense  in  the  passage  before  us  is  evi- 
dent from  another  consideration.  How  could  the  pro- 
phet see  an  immaterial  soul  1  The  soul  is  not,  in  its 
own  nature,  a  substance  capable  of  coming  under  the 
cognizance  of  the  senses  ;  and  even  in  the  shadowings 
of  a  prophetic  vision,  a  soul,  in  order  to  be  exhibited  to 
the  percipient,  must  assume  more  or  less  of  the  proper- 
ties of  a  corporeal  being.     But  the  moment  it  becomes 

*  See  this  question  treated  fully  and  learnedly  in  Bishop 
L.aw's  '  Essay  concerning  the  use  of  the  words  Soul,  or  Spirit,' 
in  the  Appendix  to  his  *  Considerations  on  the  Theory  of  Re- 
ligion,' 


THtl  MILLiENi^iUM.  187 

invested  with  the  attributes  of  corporeity,  as  it  must 
in  order  to  be  an  object  of  visionary  representation,  it  is 
at  once  transformed  to  precisely  such  an  entity,  shade^ 
ghost,  or  phantasm,  as  we  affirm  to  have  constituted,  to 
the  prophet's  mind,  the  visible  image  of  a  man,  as  com- 
posed of  body  and  soul  united.  And  such  we  contend 
to  have  been  the  real  objects  seen  in  the  entranced  per- 
ception of  the  prophet.  He  beheld  the  persons  of  the 
martyrs  who  were  beheaded,  or  otherwise  put  to  death, 
for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  ;  and  he  beheld  them  in  such 
an  aspect,  or  under  such  a  form,  as  was  appropriate  and 
congruous  to  the  general  character  of  the  imagery  which 
he  was  called  to  contemplate. 

The  term  '  souls'  then,  employed  in  the  language  of 
this  vision,  far  from  denoting  the  immaterial  part  of  the 
martyrs  in  distinction  from  their  bodies,  and  far  also 
from  implying  the  I'evival  of  the  spirit  of  the  martyrs  in 
a  subsequent  generation,  is  in  fact  but  another  name  for 
the  '  persons'  of  the  martyrs  themselves  living  in  the 
times  of  the  Beast,  and  signalizing  their  fidelity  by  with- 
standing his  usurpations.  Whether,  however,  it  Avere 
the  design  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  intimate  by  the  use  of 
this  term  that  the  '  persons'  spoken  of  had  actually  been 
slain  at  the  time  to  which  the  vision  refers,  is  a  matter 
somewhat  doubtful.  That  they  were  in  a  state  of  active 
existence  of  some  kind  at  the  time  they  were  seen,  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  as  they  are  represented  as  reigning  with 
Christ,  but  whether  it  were  an  existence  enjoyed  prior  or 
subsequent  to  their  being  beheaded  is  not  of  so  easy  so- 
lution. We  incline  on  the  whole  to  the  latter  opinion, 
as  in  Rev.  6.  9.  we  find  the  term  manifestly  employed 


188  TREATISE  ON 

in  this  sense.  "  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  sealf 
I  saw  under  the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  were 
slam  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which 
they  held :  And  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying, 
How  long,  O  Lord,"  &c.  Here  again  we  are  forbidden 
by  the  nature  of  the  symbolic  imagery  to  affix  to  'souls* 
the  sense  of  departed  spirits.  For  with  what  propriety 
could  a  disembodied  immaterial  spirit  be  represented  as 
*  crying  with  a  loud  voice,'  or  as  being  clothed  '  with 
white  robes'  1  These  are  circumstances  which  must 
necessarily  be  predicated  of  beings  possessed  of  an  or- 
ganized corporeal  existence  of  some  kind,  and  doubtless 
the  true  idea  intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  word  '  souls' 
in  this  connexion  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  poets 
Homer,  Virgil,  and  Ossian  in  speaking  of  the  shades 
of  departed  heroes.*  But  there  is  a  peculiar  fitness 
from  scriptural  usage  in  employing  this  term  in  reference 
to  those  who  had  lost  their  lives  by  martyrdom.  For 
we  find  that  the  sacred  writers  denominated  the  blood 
of  any  creature  its  life  or  soul.  Thus  Gen.  9.  4.  IlA^jy 
ic^iu,(;  ev  uif^ccri  "^v^^^  ou  <pciyes6e — butjlesh  with  the  blood 
of  its  life  shall  ye  not  eat.  Deut.  12.  23.  'Ot<  ktiJM 
uvTov  i^vx,*i — for  the  blood  of  it  is  the  life,  or  soul.  Ac- 
cordingly Christ  is  said.  Is.  53.  12.  to  have  *  poured  out 
his  souV  because  he  shed  his  blood  unto  death.  And 
again  in  v.  10.  of  the  same  chapter,  it  is  said,  'When 
thou  shall  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin ;'  i.  e.  shall 
make  his  hlood,  or  his  life,  an  offering.  This  is  strikingly 

*  Thus  Homer,  in  the  opening  of  the  Iliad  ; 

IloXXaj  5'  i(p6inovs4^vx^S  a'iSi  npo'ia^pcv 

'Hpwwv.— And  prematurely  sent  many  brave  souls  to  Orcus. 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  189 

paralleled  by  the  usage  of  the  classic  writers.  Thus 
Virgil  has,  *  Purpuream  vomit  ille  animam' — vomited 
forth  his  purple  life,  or  soul ;  and  Horace,  *  Non  vanae 
redeat  sanguis  imagini' — the  blood  may  not  return  to  the 
lifeless  form ;  where  the  commentator  remarks,  ♦  San- 
guis est  vita' — the  blood  is  the  life.  Now  the  blood  or 
soul  of  the  victims  which  were  sacrificed  under  the  Jew- 
ish economy  was  poured  out  upon  or  about  the  altar  in 
such  a  way,  that  it  all  flowed  at  last  to  the  bottom,  and 
there  remained.  Lev.  4.  18.  '  And  the  priest  shall  pour 
out  all  the  blood  at  the  bottom  of  the  altar  of  the  burnt 
offering,  which  is  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation.'  As  martyrdom,  therefore,  was  a  kind  of 
sacrifice  performed  by  the  martyrs  in  shedding  or  pour- 
ing out  their  blood,  and  offering  their  bodies  to  God,  as 
appears  from  the  language  of  Paul,  Phil.  2.  17.  *  Yea, 
and  if  I  be  offered  upon  the  sacrifice  and  service  of  your 
faith,  I  joy  and  rejoice  with  you  all ;'  and  again,  2  Tim. 
4.  6.  *  For  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered^  and  the  time 
of  my  departure  is  at  hand  ;'  the  souls,  accordingly,  of 
those  who  had  been  thus  slain  and  offered,  are  very  ap- 
propriately represented  as  being  '  under  the  altar,'  i.  e. 
round  about  the  base  of  the  altar,  where  the  vital  blood 
of  the  victims  flowed.  Guided  by  this  train  of  re- 
mark we  shall  not  probably  err  in  assigning  to  "^v^ui, 
souls,  an  analogous  import  in  the  vision  under  considera- 
tion, especially  as  -^v^k  in  several  instances  in  the 
Septuagint  version  occurs  in  the  sense  of  a  dead  body. 
Thus  Lev.  19.  28.  *  Ye  shall  not  make  any  cuttings  in 
your  flesh /or  the  dead  (Gr.  eyrt  ^vx.fi).^  Num.6.  11. 
*  For  that  he  sinned  (contracted  defilement)  by  the  dead 
R 


190  TREATlSfi  ON 

(Gr.  cTff  i  Tr,i  'i'^X'^if  i-  e.  by  touching  a  dead  body.  LeV^ 
21.  1.  *  Speak  unto  the  priests,  the  sons  of  Aaron,  and 
say  unto  them,  There  shall  none  be  defiled /or  the  dead 
(Gr.  fv  rai^-^  vp^xii)  among  his  people.'  Ezek.  44.  25* 
'  And  they  shall  come  at  no  dead  person  (Gr.  f5r<  ^^^v^iiy) 
to  defile  themselves.' 

But  these  souls  thus  shed  or  dead,  are  at  the  same 
time  portrayed  as  actually  living  and  reigning  with 
Christ  during  the  thousand  years.  The  death  therefore 
which  they  suffered  could  not  have  been  such  as  mate- 
rially to  affect  their  existence.  In  some  sense  they 
still  continued  to  live  ;  for  it  does  not  seem  possible  to 
understand  the  language  of  any  oiher  class  of  men  than 
the  very  identical  martyrs  spoken  of,  and  who  are  une- 
quivocally determined  by  the  expressions  '  for  the  wit- 
ness of  Jesus,'  and  '  for  the  word  of  God.'  It  cannot 
imply,  therefore,  the  restoration  to  life  of  those  who  had 
died  in  former  ages  by  the  hands  of  Jewish  or  Heathen 
persecutors,  but  a  class  of  men  are  designated  of  whom 
it  may  be  said  without  detriment  to  the  truth,  that 
though  they  were  dead,  yet  still  they  lived.  This  of 
course  brings  us  to  the  necessity  of  a  more  close  and 
accurate  analysis  of  certain  terms  occurring  in  this  con- 
nexion, the  true  explication  of  which  is  indispensable 
to  a  right  view  of  the  passage.  Is  it,  then,  according 
to  the  style  either  of  Christ  or  the  apostles,  or  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  any  other  part  of  the  sacred  volume,  to 
speak  of  life  or  of  living  in  a  sense  which  the  mere 
fact  of  physical  death  destroys  not,  affects  not  ?  Is 
there  a  spiritual  in  contradistinction  from  animal  life, 
which  may  properly  be  said  to  survive  the  dissolution 


THE    MILLENNIUM,  191 

of  soul  and  body,  and  triumph  over  the  potency  of  the 
grave?     In  attempthig  a  reply  to  this  question,  the  fol- 
lowing passages  bear  too  directly  upon  the  point  to  be 
overlooked.     Ps.  22.  26.  *  The  meek  shall  eat  and  be 
satisfied :  they  shall  praise  the  Lord  that  seek  him : 
your  heart  shall  live  for  ever.''     Upon  which  Ainsworth 
remarks, — "  The  living  of  the  heart  importeth  also  the 
cheering,  comfort,  and  solace  of  the  same  ;  as  in   Gen. 
45.  27.  '  And  when  he  saw  the  wagons  which  Joseph 
had  sent  to   carry  him,  the  spirit  of  Jacob  their  father 
revived  (Heb.  lived).''  "     In  like  manner,   Ps.  69.  33. 
*  The  humble  shall  see  this  and  be  glad :    and  your 
heart   shall  live  that  seek  God.'     Still  more  apposite 
are  the  following ;  John  11.  25.  '  Jesus  said  unto  her, 
I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  :  he  that  htlieveth  on 
me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live  :  and  whoso- 
ever liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.''     Luke, 
20.  37,  38.  '  Now  that  the  dead  are  raised,  even  Moses 
showed  at  the  bush,  when  he  calleth  the  Lord  the  God 
of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God   of 
Jacob.     For  he  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the 
living  :  for  all  live  unto  him.^     John,  6.  50,  51.  '  This 
is  the  bread  that  cometh  down  from  heaven,  that  a  man 
may  eat  thereof,  and  not  die.     I  am  the  living  bread 
which  came  down  from  heaven  :  if  any  man  eat  of  this 
bread,  he  shall  live  for  ever.^     A  similar  phraseology  is 
applied  in  its  most  emphatic  sense  to  Christ.     Rev.   1. 
17,  18.  '  And  he  laid  his  right  hand  upon  me,  saying 
unto  me,  I   am  the  first  and  the  last ;  I  am  he  that  liv- 
eth, and  was  dead ;  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore.' 
Kom.  6.  10.  'For  in  that  he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once ; 


193  TREATISE    ON 

but  in  that  he  livcth,  he  liveth  unto  God.'  In  this  spir- 
itual and  eternal  life  of  Christ,  including  in  it  the  ful- 
ness of  holy  joy,  blessedness,  and  peace,  the  true  disci- 
ples of  the  Savior  are  frequently  represented  as  partici- 
pating. John  14.  19.  'Because  /  live,  ye  shall  live 
also.'  2  Cor.  13.  4.  'For  though  he  was  crucified 
through  weakness,  yet  he  liveth  by  the  power  of  God. 
For  we  also  are  weak  in  him,  but  we  shall  live  with  him 
by  the  power  of  God  toward  you.'  Again,  that  the 
word  '  live'  is  used  in  a  figurative  sense  akin  to  that 
which  we  attribute  to  it  in  the  passage  before  us  will 
appear  from  1  Thess.  3.  8.  '  For  now  we  live^  if  ye  stand 
fast  in  the  Lord.' 

Is  it  not  possible,  then,  from  this  array  of  quotations, 
to  educe  the  true  signification  of  the  term  '  live,'  as 
applied  to  the  martyrs  whose  '  souls'  the  prophet  beheld 
in  vision  ?  Is  not  its  genuine  import  that  of  spiritual 
life  ?  Is  it  not  the  designed  implication  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  that  in  the  midst  of  surrounding  apostasy  these 
faithful  '  souls,'  with  unwavering  persistency,  stood  to 
their  testimony,  and  from  the  vigor  and  vitality  of  their 
faith,  might  be  said  in  the  highest  and  best  sense  to 
live,  while  moral  corruption,  open  defection,  and  spirit- 
ual death  were  spreading  their  ravages  on  every  side  ? 
Was  not  the  steadfast  cleaving  to  the  truth,  the  resolute 
maintenance  of  the  life  of  godliness  in  their  souls,  and 
the  unshrinking  resistance  even  unto  blood  to  the  claims 
and  usurpations  of  an  Antichristian  power,  a  conduct 
fitly  characterized  as  at  once  a  'living'  and  'reigning' 
with  Christ  ?  True,  they  might  be  put  to  death  ;  they 
might  encounter  persecution,  torture,  and  martyrdom  in 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  193 

their  most  appalling  forms;  the  fiercest  malignity  of  the 
Beast  and  the  unsparing  ire  of  '  thrones'  and  potentates 
miglit  wreak  itself  upon  their  heads,  still  they  were 
<  more  than  conquerors  ;'  the  martyr's  crown  was  the 
badge  of  their  blessed  kingship ;  and  in  them  was  illus- 
triously fulfilled  the  truth  of  the  inspired  saying ;  "  If 
we  suffer  we  shall  also  reign  with  him."  They  reigned 
in  fact  in  their  sufferings. 

Now  when  it  is  considered  that  the  Holy  Spirit  had 
a  prospective  design  in  framing  the  imagery  and  the 
phraseology  of  this  remarkable  vision ;  that  it  was  de- 
vised and  put  on  record  in  great  measure  for  the  behoof 
of  those  who  should  actually  be  called  to  suffer,  that 
their  spirits  might  be  armed  beforehand  for  the  terrible 
conflict,  we  can  see  an  adequate  reason  for  painting  the 
scene  in  very  vivid  colors.  It  was  fitting,  in  the  nature 
of  the  case,  that  it  should  be  so  exhibited  as  to  operate 
as  a  powerful  motive  in  reconciling  the  minds  of  the 
faithful  to  the  prospect  of  suffering.  They  would  evi- 
dently need,  in  looking  forward  to  a  fiery  trial  of  their 
faith,  to  have  the  circumstances  of  th^ir  fate  and  i\\e 
prospect  of  its  issues  so  depicted,  that  they  could  read 
their  reward  in  close  connexion  with  their  endurance, 
and  accordingly  the  vision  is  so  described,  is  couched 
in  such  a  peculiar  style,  as  was  admirably  calculated  to 
produce  this  effect.  But  is  there  any  absolute  necessity 
which  prescribes  that  the  same  construction  should  be  put 
upon  the  words  by  those  who  lived  before  and  those  who 
live  after  the  event  I  Is  ho  allowance  to  be  made  for  th« 
progress  of  scriptural  illumination  in  subsequent  ages  ? 
Suppose  that  the  simple-minded  martyrs  of  a  former 
R2 


194  TREATISE    ON 

day,  in  a  period  of  a  great  moral  and  intellectual  dark- 
ness, should  have  adopted  a  more  gross  interpretation 
of  the  mystic  imagery  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  should 
have  imagined  that  the  '  thrones,'  here  spoken  of,  were 
destined  for  them  to  sit  and  reign  upon  as  co-assessors 
with  Christ  in  a  predicted  millennial  regency,  yet  who 
was  harmed  by  it?  In  what  respect  did  the  interests 
of  truth  suffer  ?  We  are  certain  that  their  final  remu- 
neration was  no  less  glorious  than  they  were  thus  led 
to  anticipate,  and  if  their  expecting  it  under  this  peculiar 
form  tended  to  animate  and  cheer  them  in  their  excru- 
ciating sufferings,  if  it  gave  additional  strength  to  their 
resolution  and  lustre  to  their  patience,  if,  in  a  word, 
their  interpretation  was  the  best  adapted  of  any  other 
to  their  peculiar  circumstances  and  exigencies,  why 
should  we  object  to  the  idea  of  their  having  rested  upon 
a  construction  which  was  not  perhaps  intrinsically  the 
most  correct  ?  And  why  should  we,  whose  lot  is  cast  in 
an  age  far  more  propitious  to  the  explication  of  the  mys- 
teries of  revelation,  from  so  many  of  them  having  been 
accomplished,  feel  bound  to  abide  by  the  views  of  a  less 
enlightened  period  1  May  not  the  very  same  portion  of 
holy  writ  afford  milk  to  babes,  and  strong  meat  to  grown 
men? 

But  in  order  to  redeem  our  present  interpretation  from 
the  possible  charge  of  novelty,  paradox,  and  extrava- 
gance, we  are  happy  to  be  able  to  adduce  the  suffrage 
of  no  less  a  master  of  exegetical  theology  than  the  cele- 
brated Witsius. 

"  These  sentiments,"  says  he  (namely,  that  there 
will  be  a  resurrection  of  all — righteous  and  wicked — at 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  105 

one  and  the  same  time),  "  are  clearly  deducible  from 
the  constant  and  unvarying  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  from  sound  reason.  They  who  think  differently, 
however,  have  something  to  produce  as  the  ground  of 
their  opinion.  They  found  it  in  particular  on  Rev.  20. 
4-6.  where  John  gives  an  account  of  a  certain  period  of 
the  church,  in  which  the  Devil  and  Satan  is  to  be  bound 
a  thousand  years.  *  And  I  saw  thrones,'  he  adds,  *  and 
they  sat  upon  them,  and  judgment  was  given  unto  them  : 
and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded,'  &c. 

"  But  even  in  this  passage,  if  we  only  examine,  we 
shall  find  that  it  contains  no  such  thing  as  that  which 
these  men  suppose  they  discover  in  it ;  John  does  not 
affirm  that  he  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded, 
much  less  that  he  saw  the  martyrs  themselves  that  were 
beheaded,  sitting  upon  thrones.  He"  says  only  that  he 
saw  thrones,  and  Ifhose  who  sat  upon  them,  not  deter- 
mining who  they  were  :  or  rather  making  it  sufiiciently 
plain  that  this  is  not  to  be  understood  of  souls.  For 
the  words  employed  do  not  admit  of  this  interpretation. 
In  the  Greek  they  are  ku)  K^if^c  t^o^n  uvtoi<;.  But  if  the 
reference  had  been  to  souls  (ra^  "^f^^s)  uvrai^  would 
have  been  used. — Further,  he  does  not  say,  that  he  saw 
that  the  men  who  were  beheaded  lived  again ;  far  less 
that  the  bodies  of  the  beheaded  lived  again  on  the  earth. 
He  asserts  merely,  that  he  saw  the  souls  of  them  that 
were  beheaded,  not  living  again,  but  living ;  that  is, 
filled  with  unceasing  joy,  as  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
live  to  God  ;  and  reigning  with  Christ,  namely,  in  the 
kingdom  of  glory,  where  they  reap  the  fruit  of  their 


196  TREATISE    ON 

labours  and  death,  whilst  they  behold  the  enlargement 
of  the  church  during  these  thousand  years. 

"  Besides  the  souls  of  those  which  had  been  beheaded 
which  he  saw  in  heaven,  John  saw  on  earth  those  (ob- 
serve, it  is  not  the  souls  of  those,  but  the  persons  them- 
selves) who  did  not  worship  the  beast  nor  his  image,  &e. 
that  is,  those  who,  adhering  steadfastly  to  Christ,  de- 
termined to  have  no  fellowship  with  Antichrist.  These 
also  lived,  enjoying  a  blessed  peace  of  conscience  and 
a  rich  abundance  of  spiritual  consolation — and  reigned 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  Not  that  their  lives  as 
individuals  extended  to  a  thousand  years,  for  this  never 
was  and  never  will  be  the  lot  of  any  mortal,  but  men  of 
that  description  reigned  during  many  successive  ages, 
till  the  appointed  period.  And  if  you  strongly  urge  their 
living  again,  this  may  be  affirmed  of  these  also,  for  they 
lived  again,  inasmuch  as  under  the  tyranny  of  the  beast 
that  description  of  men  had  lately  been  harassed,  op- 
pressed, reduced  to  a  small  number,  and  involved  in 
such  difficulties  and  privations,  that  they  scarcely  lived, 
or  discovered  any  principle  of  vitality  at  all ;  but  now 
the  face  of  affairs  being  changed,  their  numbers  are  in- 
creased, and  breathing  a  freer  air,  they  move  all  their 
limbs  with  ease  and  spirit." — H.  Witsii  Exer.  Sac. 
p.  513-516.  Amstel.  1697. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  the  above  extract  does  not 
present,  in  every  point,  an  exact  accordancy  with  our 
foregoing  exposition,  but  the  agreement  in  the  main  par- 
ticulars is  sufficiently  marked  for  the  purposes  of  illus- 
tration.— Leaving  then  the  preceding  interpretation  to  be 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  197 

judged  of  by  its  own  merit,  we  proceed  to  the  consider- 
ation of  the  further  particulars  of  the  vision. 

"  But  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again^  until  the 
thousand  years  were  fulfilled."  The  'oi  Mitto)  rav  uk^uv 
— the  rest  of  the  dead,  here  spoken  of,  are  evidently 
mentioned  by  way  of  antithesis  to  the  '  living'  and 
*  reigning'  martyrs  alluded  to  in  the  preceding  verse ; 
and  if  we  have  succeeded  in  showing  that  by  the  one 
class  are  to  be  understood  the  spiritually  living,  it  will 
follow  that  by  the  other  are  to  be  understood  the 
spiritually  dead,  as  otherwise  the  point  of  the  opposition 
is  altogether  lost.  The  prophet,  it  will  be  recollected, 
or  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the  prophet,  is  describing  a  dark 
and  disastrous  period  of  the  church,  a  time  when  the 
Beast  was  rising  to  the  zenith  of  his  power,  and  when 
the  great  mass  of  the  nominally  Christian  world  had 
acknowledged  his  dominion,  and  taken  upon  them  his 
mark.  This  vast  multitude  constituted  '  the  rest  of  the 
dead,'  an  expression  which  Parens  affirms  to  be  equiva- 
lent to  \i  ?Mi7ro)  HK^ei — the  rest,  (even)  the  dead;  as  in 
Rev.  9.  20.  the  phrase  'ot  Xti-jcoi  rav  ccvS^uTrav — the  rest 
of  the  men  which  were  not  killed  by  these  plagues,  is 
plainly  equivalent  to  'oi  Xoiyrot  'ot  uvG^uttoi — the  rest, 
{even)  the  men,  which  were  not  hilled,  since  otherwise 
the  expression  would  involve  a  contradiction  in  terms, 
the  object  of  the  writer  being  to  make  a  distinction  be- 
tween those  who  were  killed  and  those  who  were  not. 
During  this  calamitous  era,  therefore,  the  body  of  pro- 
fessed Christians  throughout  the  dominions  of  the  ten 
Kings  who  occupied  the  *  thrones'  of  the  vision,  was 
divided  into  two  great  classes,  those  who  were  spiritU" 


198  TREATISE    ON 

ally  living  and  those  who  were  spiritually  dead,  the 
latter  constituting  the  vast  majority  in  point  of  num- 
bers, and  being  elsewhere  described  as  '  all  the  world 
that  wondered  after  the  beast,'  and  again  alluded  to 
Rev.  1 3.  8.  where  it  is  said  that  '  power  was  given  him 
(the  Beast)  over  all  kindreds,  and  tongues,  and  nations  ; 
and  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  shall  worship  him, 
whose  names  are  not  written  in  the  hook  of  life  (the  roll 
or  catalogue  of  the  living)  of  the  Lamb  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world.'  They  were  those  in  fact  who 
constituted  the  members  of  that  grand  Apostasy,  headed 
by  the  character  so  clearly  predicted  and  so  largely  de- 
scribed by  the  Apostle  under  the  denomination  of  '  the 
Man  of  Sin.'  These  then  were  the  spiritually  and 
mystically  dead,  '  for  he  that  liveth  in  sin  is  dead  while 
he  liveth.'  No  ray  of  the  light  of  life  beamed  on  the 
darkness  of  their  millennial  night.  They  were  in  a 
state  of  moral  dormancy  and  deliquium,  from  which  it  is 
the  scope  of  this  passage  to  assure  us  that  they  should 
not  be  awakened  so  as  to  live  through  the  lapse  of  that 
protracted  period.  But  does  the  language,  rightly  inter- 
preted, imply  that  they  should  live  after  the  expiration 
of  that  term?  By  no  means.  The  drift  of  the  Spirit 
of  inspiration  is  merely  to  intimate  that  the  latter  class 
were  distinguished  from  the  former  by  the  fact,  that  those 
who  composed  it  did  not  live  through  the  memorable 
period  of  the  thousand  years,  without  at  all  necessitat- 
ing the  inference  that  they  did  live  after  the  period  had 
expired.  It  is  a  well  established  canon  of  interpretation, 
that  adverbs,  denoting  a  termination  of  time,  are,  not- 
withstanding, often  intended,  not  to  intimate  an  actual 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  199 

tiermination,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  signify  perpetuity. 
Thus  Ps.  110.  1.  'Sit  thou  at  my  right-hand  vntil  I 
make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool.'  Is  it  at  a-11  implied 
by  this  that  Christ  should  cease  to  sit  at  his  Father's 
right-hand  when  his  enemies  were  brought  into  subjec- 
tion? So  also  Is.  22.  14.  '  This  iniquity  shall  not  be 
purged  till  ye  die.'  But  are  we  to  infer  that  it  should 
be  purged  then?  Certainly  not.  It  is  equivalent  to 
saying  it  should  never  be  purged.  In  like  manner 
1  Sam.  15.  35.  '  Samuel  came  no  more  until  the  day  of 
his  death ;'  i.  e.  never  came  any  more.  2  Sam.  6.  23. 
'  Michal  had  no  children  until  the  day  of  her  death ;' 
i.  e.  never  had  any.  Rom.  5.  13.  '  For  until  the  laWj 
sin  was  in  the  world.'  But  did  sin  cease  after  the  en- 
trance of  the  law  ?  Obviously  the  writer's  aim  is  to 
state  a  particular  fact  in  respect  to  a  particular  period 
of  time,  without  in  the  least  intimating  that  that  fact 
ceased  when  the  period  ceased.  So  in  the  present  in- 
stance. Nothing  farther  is  intended  to  be  affirmed 
respecting  '  the  rest  of  the  dead'  than  that  they  did  not, 
like  those  to  whom  they  are  opposed,  live  during  the 
memorable  Millennium.  As  to  what  happened  to  them 
after  that  period,  nothing  is  expressly  said ;  but  in  con- 
formity to  the  usage  just  illustrated,  the  inference  is  that 
they  never  lived  in  the  sense  in  which  living  is  predi- 
cated of  the  '  souls'  of  the  martyrs.  We  are  aware,  in- 
deed, that  the  phrase  '  lived  not  again'  may  be  thought 
to  militate  with  this  construction  ;  but  although  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  our  translators  read  in  their  copies 
xn<^ti<ruv,  lived  again^  yet  it  is  remarkable  that  some  of 
the  most  approved  editions  of  the  New  Testament,  as 


200  TREATISE    ON 

that  of  Knapp  for  instance,  reject  this  as  a  corrupt  read- 
ing, and  insert  e^tjirxvi  lived.  There  is  Uttle  doubt  that 
uv£^i3<rxv  has  crept  into  the  text  from  the  construction 
put  upon  f^jjo-av  in  the  preceding  verse.  As  in  the  pre- 
vaiUng  views  of  the  Millennium  that  word  was  under- 
stood to  signify  a  literal  resurrection,  or  living  again, 
the  inference  would  not  be  unnatural  that  when  the 
same  thing  was  denied  of  a  certain  class  of  men,  the 
term  employed  would  of  course  be  one  having  the  same 
signification,  only  preceded  by  a  negative.  This  affords 
a  specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  men's  preconceived 
hypotheses  have  been  suffered  to  warp,  not  their  inter- 
pretation only,  but  the  very  reading  of  the  sacred  text. 

"  This  is  the  first  resurrection.  Blessed  and  holy  is 
he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection  :  on  such  the 
second  death  hath  no  power ;  but  they  shall  be  priests 
of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with  him  a  thou- 
sand years."  The  original  uvcca-rua-ii,  resurrection,  we 
apprehend  to  be  here  used  as  the  abstract  for  the  con- 
crete, strictly  denoting  the  persons  who  composed  the 
resurrection.  Thus  Rom.  3.  30.  '  Seeing  it  is  one  God 
which  shall  justify  the  circumcision  (i.  e.  those  who  are 
circumcised)  by  faith,  and  the  uncircumcision  (i.  e.  those 
who  are  not  circumcised)  through  faith.'  So  also 
Rom.  4.  9.  *  Cometh  this  blessedness  then  upon  the 
circumcision  only,  or  upon  the  uncircumcision  also  V 
Gal.  2.  9.  *  That  we  should  go  unto  the  heathen,  and 
they  unto  the  circumcision  (the  Jews).'  Phil.  3.  3, 
» We  are  the  circumcision  (the  circumcised  ones).' 
Phil.  3.  2. '  Beware  of  the  concision  (the  concisionists).' 
Rom.  11.  7.  *  The  election  (the  elect  ones)  hath  ob- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  201 

tained  it.'  In  like  maner,  the  expression,  '  This  is  the 
first  resurrection,'  we  understand  as  equivalent  to  '  This 
is  the  first  body  of  resurrectionists.'  Not  that  we  sup- 
pose a  literal  corporeal  resurrection  to  be  intended,  for 
it  does  not  appear  that  there  is  to  be  a  first  and  second 
literal  resurrection,  but  a  mystical  and  spiritual  one  ;  a 
resurrection  which  shall  answer  to  the  explanation 
given  above  of  the  *  living'  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  of 
the  millennial  era.  Repentance  and  abandonment  of 
sin,  conversion  to  truth  and  holiness,  devout  obedience 
to  the  divine  commandments,  a  determined  but  humble 
perseverance  in  maintaining  *  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
and  the  word  of  God,'  a  resolute  purpose  to  withstand 
at  all  hazards  the  aggressive  usurpations  of  antichris- 
tianism,  may  justly  be  deemed  a  conduct  worthy  to  be 
characterized  as  a  resurrection  to  spiritual  life^  and 
therefore  properly^  attributed  to  the  noble  band  of  con- 
fessors and  witnesses  whose  bright  example  of  courage, 
constancy,  zeal,  faith,  and  patience,  relieved  the  dark- 
ness of  that  gloomy  period.  In  reference,  therefore,  to 
a  more  general  and  powerful  and  glorious  triumph  of  the 
gospel,  a  revivescence  of  righteousness  still  more  illus- 
trious, to  be  enjoyed  in  subsequent  ages  of  the  church, 
this  is  termed  by  way  of  distinction  '  the  first  resurrec- 
tion.' And  of  this  resurrection  the  subjects  are  pro- 
nounced to  be  *  holy  and  blessed,'  inasmuch  as  they  arc 
favoured  with  a  happy  immunity  from  the  peril  of  being 
involved  in  '  the  second  death,'  though  they  might  be ' 
called  to  endure  the  painsof  the  first.  This  expression, 
which  occurs  in  no  other  part  of  the  Scriptures  but  in 
the  Apocalypse,  viz.  ch.  2.  11.  'He  that  overcometh 
S 


203  TREATISE   ON 

shall  not  be  hurt  oi  the  second  death  f  and,  ch.  20.  14. 

*  And  death  and  hell  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire. 
This  is  the  second  death^  is  not  perhaps  susceptible  of 
an  explication  so  clear  and  satisfactory  as  could  be  de- 
sired. It  is  a  phrase  of  Rabbinic  rather  than  of  scrip- 
tural origin,  and  is  evidently  used  to  denote  some  fear- 
ful kind  of  punishment  to  be  inflicted  upon  transgressors, 
whose  guilt  was  of  a  deep  die,  in  some  anticipated  state 
called  by  them  '  the  world  to  come.'  But  until  we  are 
enabled  to  learn  with  more  precision  than  has  yet  been 
practicable,  the  real  sense  affixed  by  Jewish  writers  to 
the  phrase  '  world  to  come,'  we  must  remain  in  a  great 
measure  ignorant  of  the  exact  import  of  the  expression 

*  second  death.'  In  the  mean  time,  the  only  clew  which 
we  possess  to  guide  us  to  its  meaning  is  aflbrded  by  the 
following  passages,  collected  from  the  Chaldee  Para- 
phrasts,  Deut.  33.  6.  '  Let  Reuben  live  and  not  die.* 
Jerus.  Targ.  '  Vivat  Reuben  in  seculo  hoc,  neque  mori- 
atur  morte  secunda' — let  Reuben  live  in  this  worlds,  and 
let  him  not  die  the  second  death.  TheTargum  of  Jona- 
than, however,  has,  '  Nee  moriatur  morte  qua  moriuntur 
improbi  in  futuro  seculo' — nor  let  him  die  the  death  which 
the  wicked  die  in  the  world  to  corned  Is.  22.  14.  '  Surely 
this  iniquity  shall  not  be  purged  from  you,  till  ye  die.* 
Targ.  '  Donee  moriamini  morte  secunda' — till  ye  die  the 
SECOND  DEATH.  Is.  65.  6.  '  But  will  recompense,  even 
recompense  into  their  bosom.'  Targ.  *Et  tradam 
morti  secundae  corpora  eorum' — and  I  will  deliver  their 
bodies  to  the  second  death.  Is.  6.  15.  *  The  Lord  shall 
slay  thee.'  Targ.  *  Interficiet  vos  Dominus  morte  se- 
cunda'— the   Lord   shall    slay  you  with  the   second 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  203 

DEATH.  Jer.  51.  39.  '  That  they  may  sleep  a  perpetual 
sleep,  and  not  wake,  saith  the  Lord.  Targ.  *  Sed  mori- 
antur  morte  secunda,  et  non  vivant  in  seculo-futuro' — 
hut  let  them  die  the  second  death,  and  not  live  in  the 
world  to  come.  Ps.  49.  10.  *  For  he  seeth  that  wise 
men  die.'  Targ.  '  Quoniam  videbit  sapientes  improbos, 
qui  moriuntur  morte  secunda,  at  adjudicantur  Gehennas' 
— since  he  shall  see  the  wicked  wise  men  who  die  the 
SECOND  DEATH,  and  adjudged  to  hell.  Although,  there- 
fore, Cocceius  understands  by  the  *  second  death*  in 
this  passage  merely  ^naZ  apostacy^  or  hopeless  obdura» 
tion  of  heart  ;*  yet  it  is  probable  that  it  points  to  the 
ultimate  irrevocable  doom  of  the  lost  after  death.  If 
so,  the  drift  of  the  prophet  is  to  convey  the  assurance, 
that  the  blessed  participants  of  the  first  resurrection 
should  not  only  enjoy  all  the  present  happiness  and 
triumph,  include4  in  their  '  living'  and  *  reigning'  state 
on  earth,  but  in  addition  to  this,  should  be  crowned  with 
the  prerogative  of  exemption  from  the  fearful  lot  of 
those  who  might  finally  sink  beyond  redemption  into 
the  woes  and  horrors  of  the  *  second  death.' 

The  Holy  Spirit  having  thus  completed  all  that  it  was 
necessary  to  say  respecting  the  state  of  things  within 
the  limits  of  Christendom  during  the  period  of  Satan's 
restraint,  having  fully  acquainted  us  with  the  sufferings 

*  Qui  autem  revixerunt,  ii  beali  sunt,  (inio.  justi-sanctU  quia 
a  Spiritu  Sancto  sanctificati  ad  amorem  veritatis.  Propter  earn 
causam  secunda  mors,  avo/xto,  a-iroaTaaia,  induratio,  in  eos  potesta- 
tem  non  habet.  Regeniti  non  deficerent ;  quia  beati  et  sancti 
sunt ;  h.  e.  quia  a  Deo  justificati  sunt  ct  arrhabonem  Spiritiis 
a  Deo  acceperunt,  et  eo  signati  sunt.— Coc.  in  Rev.  21.  6. 


204  TREATISE  ON 

and  trials  of  the  victims  of  papal  persecution,  another 
transition  now  occurs  in  the  thread  of  the  visionary  nar- 
rative, and  he  proceeds  to  the  memorable  finale  of  the 
Dragon's  machinations  against  the  church,  eventuating 
in  his  own  defeat  and  destruction.*  The  consideration 
of  this  part  of  our  subject  will  form  the  matter  of  the  en- 
suing chapter. 

*  "  Because  Satan  was  still  to  play  a  last  game  before  he 
was  condemned  to  his  final  judgment,  by  which  he  shall  be 
quite  driven  from  having  any  thing  to  do  with  mankind  ;  the 
Holy  Ghost  goes  on  now  to  show  us  how  he  comes  to  his  end 
in  seeking,  when  loosed  out  of  prison,  to  regain  his  dominion 
over  men  by  assaulting  even  Christ  and  his  saints,  all  over  his 
kingdom  ;  even  to  the  very  attacking  of  the  blessed  and  holy 
city.  The  prison  therefore  is  the  abyss  wherein  he  was  chained. 
Wo  have  no  hints  at  all  to  make  us  determine  what,  and  where, 
this  prison  shall  be ;  whether  Satan  indeed  shall,  during  the 
Millennium  be  quite  without  visible  votaries,  or  whether  he 
shall  have  some  such,  but  in  so  low  a  condition,  and  so  much 
penned  up,  that  he  shall  be  as  in  a  prison  among  them,  without 
capacity  to  make  excursions  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  world. 
If  this  last  be  true,  it  is  likely  that  it  will  be  among  some  of  those 
nations  which  are  called  Gog  and  Magog  in  the  next  verse,  and 
which  he  will  then  seduce  to  disturb  Christ^s  kingdom^ — Daur 
imz  Perpet.  Comment,  p.  943. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  205 


'  CHAPTER  V. 

EXPLICATION  OF  THE  GOG  AND  MAGOG  OF  THE 
APOCALYPSE. 

Various  Opinions  of  Commentators  respecting  Gog  and  Ma- 
gog— Reason  of  this  Diversity — The  mention  of  this  mystic 
Power  by  John  extremely  brief  and  obscure,  because  more 
fully  predicted  by  Ezekiel — The  Identity  of  the  Gog  and 
Magog  described  by  the  two  Prophets  maintained — An  ex- 
tended Exposition  of  Ezek.  Ch.  xxxviii. — Gog  and  Magog 
shown  to  be  a  prophetical  denomination  of  the  Turks — Con- 
fiequently  the  same  Power  with  the  Euphratean  horsemen  of 
the  sixth  Trumpet,  and  to  be  referred  to  the  same  Period — 
As  certain,  therefore,  that  the  Millennium  is  past,  as  that  the 
events  of  the  sixth  Trumpet  have  transpired — Destruction 
of  Gog  and  Magog  by  Fire  from  Heaven  explained — CM)jec-» 
tions  answered. 

"And  when  a  thousand  years  are  expired,  Satan  shall 
be  loosed  out  of  his  prison,  and  shall  go  out  to  deceive 
the  nations  which  are  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth, 
Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them  together  to  battle ;  the 
number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea."  No  part 
of  the  Revelation  has  given  rise  to  a  greater  diversity  of 
opinion,  or  to  wilder  or  more  extravagant  conjectures, 
than  this  announcement  of  the  future  appearance  and 
exploits,  defeat  and  destruction,  of  the  mystic  Gog  and 
Magog.  On  the  one  hand,  the  tremendous  power 
shadowed  forth  by  this  deno^iination  has  been  summoned 
S2 


206  TREATISE    on 

up  from  the  then  barbarous  and  pagan  hemisphere  of 
America  and  the  Terra  AustraUs  Incognita.  On  the 
other,  they  have  been  generated,  hke  the  classical  Py- 
thon, by  the  productive  heat  of  the  sun,  from  the  teem- 
ing slime  of  the  renovated  earth.  And  again,  the  bars 
of  the  grave  have  been  burst  in  quest  of  them,  and  they 
have  been  resolved  into  countless  armies  of  the  risen 
dead,  to  whom  a  resurrection  to  life  has  been  but  a  res- 
urrection to  their  former  fiendish  malignity  against  the 
people  of  the  saints,  by  which  they  are  now  urged  on  to 
a  new  assault  against  the  holy  and  happy  portion  of  the 
universe.  Mede,  Burnet,  and  Gill,  are  the  distinguished 
names  by  which  these  strange  hypotheses  are  severally 
endorsed,  and  their  credit  has  given  them  currency,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  among  others  of  inferior  note. 
Another  class  of  writers,  giving  a  purely  mystical  import 
to  the  appellation,  suppose  it  to  be  intended  merely  as 
a  figurative  term  denoting  the  enemies  of  the  church  hi 
general,  whether  Pagan,  Mohammedan,  or  pseudo-Chris- 
tian.* 

As,  however,  the  views  of  expositors  respecting  the 

*  The  objection  to  this  mode  of  interpretation  is  well  stated 
bv  Calovius  :— "  Sad  nimis  manifestum  est,  describi  certum  rog- 
num,  ac  certos  populos,  quorum  nomina,  provincias,  ct  situm 
expressit^Spiritus  Sanctus,  neque  in  tam  operosa  populorum  a 
nominibus  gentilibus,  et  patronymicis  descriptione,  ilia  omnia 
allegorice  exponi  possunt,  nisi  vim  textui  insignem  facere  ve- 
limus" — ^  But  it  is  too  obvious,  that  a  particular  kingdom  is  de- 
scribed^ and  certairi  people,  whose  name,  provinces,  and  situation 
are  expressly  designated  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  nor  in  such  a  la- 
bored description  of  people  by  their  gentile  and  patronymic  denom- 
ination can  all  these  things  be  understood  AhhKGORiCALhy  unless 
we  would  do  positive  violence  to  the  text.'' — Calovius  in  loc. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  207 

Gog  and  Magog  of  the  Apocalypse  have  been  governed 
entirely  by  their  theories  of  the  Millennium,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  they  should  have  broached  the  most  fanci- 
ful constructions  of  the  sacred  text.  For  as  long  as 
they  regarded  the  Millennium  itself  as  yet  future,  they 
were  obliged  of  course  to  consider  the  entrance  of  these 
hostile  powers  upon  the  prophetic  arena  at  the  end  of  the 
thousand  years,  as  also  future.  They  would  as  soon 
have  sought  for  the  living  among  the  dead,  as  to  have 
recurred  to  history  for  the  identification  of  those  mystic 
personages.  But  as  the  future  is  the  field  of  conjecture, 
imagination  has  been  suffered  to  run  riot  in  the  attempt 
to  conjure  up  from  among  the  shadows  of  coming  ages 
the  mysterious  characters  here  described.  That  we 
look  upon  all  such  anticipations  as  groundless  and  chi- 
merical, the  reader  will  have  inferred  from  the  foregoing 
train  of  remark./  Regarding  the  Millennium  as  long 
since  past,  we  of  course  recur  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
prediction  concerning  Gog  and  Magog  to  the  pages  of 
history,  instead  of  the  auguries  of  prophecy ;  and  as  the 
establishment  of  our  main  theory  respecting  the  chro- 
nology of  the  Millennium  affords  a  strong  prima  facie 
evidence  that  the  event  in  question  has  at  least  entered 
upon  a  course  of  accomplishment,  so  the  positive  proof 
of  the  latter  position  will  be  found  to  reflect  back  a  pow- 
erful confirmation  of  the  former. 

And  here  it  may  be  remarked  in  the  outset,  that  it 
can  scarcely  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  reader  of 
the  Apocalypse,  that  the  mention  of  this  hostile  power, 
whatever  it  may  be,  is  extremely  brief  and  obscure,  and 
accompanied  with  no  clew  Avhich  might  serve  to  aid  the 


208  TREATISE    ON 

enquirer  in  his  attempts  to  identify  it.  In  other  parts  of 
the  book  involving  mysterious  revelations,  hints  and  in- 
timations are  thrown  out  formally  or  incidentally  with 
the  express  design  of  enabling  us  to  apply  the  symboli- 
cal shadows  to  their  appropriate  substances.  But  no- 
thing of  the  kind  occurs  in  regard  to  Gog  and  Magog. 
They  are,  like  Melchizedek  in  the  history  of  Moses,  sud- 
denly introduced  upon  the  stage,  and  after  acting  a  part 
of  great  moment,  as  suddenly  dismissed,  and  nothing 
more  is  heard  of  them.  But  what  is  the  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  this  feature  of  the  prophetic  narrative? 
Does  it  not  indicate  unequivocally  that  the  Spirit  of  in- 
spiration presumes  upon  a  certain  amount  of  informa- 
tion in  the  reader's  mind  derived  or  derivable  from  other 
portions  of  the  sacred  volume  1  As  the  whole  system 
of  inspired  prophecy,  both  in  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New,  is  intimately  connected  together,  the  visions  of 
John  being  in  most  cases  merely  an  expansion  of  the 
more  dense  and  involved  revelations  of  Isaiah,  Ezekiel, 
or  Daniel,  so  where  any  particular  series  of  events  is 
more  fully  developed  by  one  prophet,  we  should  of 
course  expect  it  to  be  more  succinctly  given  by  another. 
Here  then,  we  are  persuaded,  we  have  the  true  grounds 
of  the  brevity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  passage  before 
us  satisfactorily  laid  open.  For  it  so  happens  that  in  the 
book  of  Ezekiel,  ch.  38  and  39,  we  have  a  strikingly 
parallel  prophecy  detailing  at  great  length  and  with  the 
utmost  minuteness  every  particular  respecting  the  Apo- 
calyptic Gog  and  Magog  which  can  be  necessary  for  a 
complete  explication  of  this  part  of  the  vision.  The 
two  prophets  unquestionably  allude  to  precisely  the  same 


THE    MILLENNIUM. 


209 


power,  the  same  period,  and  the  same  events,  and  the 
reader  will  probably  be  surprised  at  the  extent  to  which 
the  one  is  capable  of  being  made  to  illustrate  the  other.* 
The  necessity,  therefore,  is  forced  upon  us  of  enter- 
ing into  a  minute  consideration  of  the  Old  Testament 
prophecy  in  order  to  do  full  justice  to  our  exposition  of 
the  language  of  John.  Still  we  do  not  hesitate  to  assure 
the  reader  that  he  will  experience  no  diminution  of  in- 
terest in  passing  from  the  one  to  the  other.  We  are  still 
engaged  in  the  pleasing  task  of  exploring  the  '  chambers 
of  imagery'  in  the  august  temple  of  prophecy,  all  of 
them  replete  with  treasures  of  more  value  than  the  cata- 
combs of  Egypt. 

EZEKIEL,  CH.  XXXVIII XXXIX. 

*'  And  the  word  fif  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saymg,  2. 
Son  of  man,  set  thy  face  against  Gog,  the  land  of  Ma- 
gog, the  chief  prince  of  Meshech  and  Tubal,  and  pro- 
phesy against  him,  3.  And  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God ;  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  O  Gog,  the  chief  prince 
of  Meshech  and  Tubal :  4.  And  I  will  turn  thee  back, 
and  put  hooks  into  thy  jaws,  and  I  will  bring  thee  forth,  and 

*  "  Convenit  autera  hsee  Ezechielis  prophetia  cum  ilia,  quse 
est  Apoc.  20.  8,  seqq,  ceu  ex  collatione  cuivis  patebit.  Neque 
enim  per  nudam  allusionem  ibi  allegatur  hsec  predictio  sed  in- 
dicatur  a  Sp.  S.  earn  nunc  fine  seculi  implendam" — But  this 
prophecy  of  Ezekiel  coincides  with  that  of  Rev.  20.  8,  etc.  as  will 
be  apparent  to  any  one  on  inspection.  JVor  is  this  prediction 
there  adverted  to  merely  by  way  of  allusion^  but  the  design  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  to  intimate  that  it  now,  towards  the  end  of  the 
world,receives  its  accomplishment. — Calovius  ad  Ezech.  cap.  38. 2, 


210  TREATISE    ON 

all  thine  army,  horses  and  horsemen,  all  of  them  clothed 
with  all  sorts  of  armor,  even  a  great  company  with 
bucklers  and  shields,  all  of  them  handling  swords : 
5.  Persia,  Ethiopia,  and  Libya  with  them  ;  all  of  them 
with  shield  and  helmet :  6.  Gomer,  and  all  his  bands  ; 
the  house  of  Togarmah  of  the  north  quarters,  and  all 
his  bands :  and  many  people  with  thee.  7.  Be  thou 
prepared,  and  prepare  for  thyself,  thou,  and  all  thy  com- 
pany that  are  assembled  unto  thee,  and  be  thou  a  guard 
unto  them.  8.  After  many  days  thou  shalt  be  visited  : 
in  the  latter  years  thou  shalt  come  into  the  land  that  is 
brought  back  from  the  sword,  and  is  gathered  out  of 
many  people,  against  the  mountains  of  Israel,  which 
have  been  always  waste :  but  it  is  brought  forth  out  of 
the  nations,  and  they  shall  dwell  safely  all  of  them.  9. 
Thou  shalt  ascend  and  come  like  a  storm,  thou  shalt 
be  like  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land,  thou,  and  all  thy  bands, 
and  many  people  with  thee.  10.  Thus  saith  the  Lord 
God ;  It  shall  also  come  to  pass,  that  at  the  same  time 
shall  things  come  into  thy  mind,  and  thou  shalt  think 
an  evil  thought:  11.  And  thou  shalt  say,  I  will  go 
up  to  the  land  of  unwalled  villages  ;  I  will  go  up  to  them 
that  are  at  rest,  that  dwell  safely,  all  of  them  dwelling 
without  walls,  and  having  neither  bars  nor  gates  ;  12. 
To  take  a  spoil,  and  to  take  a'  prey,  to  turn  thine  hand 
upon  the  desolate  places  that  are  now  inhabited,  and 
upon  the  people  that  are  gathered  out  of  the  nations, 
which  have  gotten  cattle  and  goods,  that  dwell  in  the 
midst  of  the  land.  13.  Sheba  and  Dedan,  and  the 
merchants  of  Tarshish,  with  all  the  young  lions  thereof, 
shall  say  unto  thee,  Art  thou  come  to  take  a  spoil  1  hast 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  211 

thou  gathered  thy  company  to  take  a  prey  1  to  carry 
away  silver  and  gold,  to  take  away  cattle  and  goods,  to 
take  a  great  spoil?  14.  Therefore,  son  of  inan,  pre- 
phesy,  and  say  unto  Gog,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  In 
that  day,  when  my  people  of  Israel  dwelleth  safely, 
shalt  thou  not  know  it  ?  15.  And  thou  shalt  come  from 
thy  place  out  of  the  north  parts,  thou,  and  many  people 
with  thee,  all  of  them  riding  upon  horses,  a  great  com- 
pany and  a  mighty  army  :  16.  And  thou  shalt  come  up 
against  my  people  of  Israel,  as  a  cloud  to  cover  the 
land ;  it  shall  be  in  the  latter  days,  and  I  will  bring  thee 
against  my  land,  that  the  heathen  may  know  me,  when 
I  shall  be  sanctified  in  thee,  0  Gog,  before  their  eyes. 
1 7.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Art  thou  he  of  whom  I 
have  spoken  in  old  time,  by  my  servants  the  prophets  of 
Israel,  which  prophesied  in  those  days  many  years,  that 
I  would  bring  thee  against  them  ?  18.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  at  the  same  time,  when  Gog  shall  come 
against  the  land  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God,  that  my 
fury  sliall  come  up  in  my  face.  19.  For  in  my  jealousy, 
and  in  the  fire  of  my  wrath,  have  I  spoken.  Surely  in  that 
day  there  shall  be  a  great  shaking  in  the  land  of  Israel : 
20»  So  that  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  and  the  fowls  of  the 
heaven,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  all  creeping 
thmgs  that  creep  upon  the  earth,  and  all  the  men  that 
are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  shall  shake  at  my  pres- 
ence, and  the  mountains  shall  be  thrown  down,  and  the 
steep  places  shall  fall,  and  every  wall  shall  fall  to  the 
ground.  21.  And  I  will  call  for  a  sword  against  him 
throughout  all  my  mountains,  saith  the  Lord  God :  every 
man's  sword  shall  be  against  his  brother.     22.  And  I 


218  TREATISE    ON 

will  plead  against  him  with  pestilence  and  with  blood  ; 
and  I  will  rain  upon  him,  and  upon  his  bands,  and  upon 
the  many  people  that  are  with  him,  an  overflowing  rain, 
and  great  hailstones,  fire,  and  brimstone.  23.  Thus 
will  I  magnify  myself,  and  sanctify  myself;  and  I  will 
be  known  in  the  eyes  of  many  nations,  and  they  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord. 

Ch.  XXXIX.  1.  Therefore  thou  son  of  man,  pro- 
phesy against  Gog,  and  say,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ; 
Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  O  Gog,  the  chief  prince  of 
Meshech  and  Tubal ;  2.  And  1  will  turn  thee  back,  and 
leave  but  the  sixth  part  of  thee,  and  will  cause  thee  to 
come  up  from  the  north  parts,  and  will  bring  thee  upon 
the  mountains  of  Israel :  3.  And  I  will  smite  thy  bow 
out  of  thy  left  hand,  and  will  cause  thine  arrows  to  fall 
out  of  thy  right  hand.  4.  Thou  shalt  fall  upon  the 
mountains  of  Israel,  thou,  and  all  thy  bands,  and  the 
people  that  is  with  thee :  I  will  give  thee  unto  the  rav- 
enous birds  of  every  sort,  and  to  the  beasts  of  the  field 
to  be  devoured.  5.  Thou  shalt  fall  upon  the  open 
field  :  for  I  have  spoken  it,  saith  the  Lord  God.  6. 
And  I  will  send  a  fire  on  Magog,  and  among  them  that 
dwell  carelessly  in  the  isles  :  and  they  shall  know  that 
I  am  the  Lord.  7.  So  will  I  make  my  holy  name  known 
in  the  midst  of  my  people  Israel ;  and  I  will  not  let  them 
pollute  my  holy  name  any  more :  and  the  heathen  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  the  Holy  One  in  Israel. 

The  remark  has  been  made  by  former  commentators 
that  the  concluding  chapters  of  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel 
and  the  Apocalypse  of  John  bear  a  striking  resemblance 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  2l3 

lo  each  other.  A  resurrection  is  mentioned  by  each — 
ihe  invasion,  with  its  disastrous  consequences,  of  Gog 
and  Magog,  is  predicted  by  each. — and  in  eacH  we  meet 
with  the  description  of  a  remarkable  city,  with  its  va- 
rious appurtenances.  The  grand  burden  of  the  two 
oracles  in  their  closing  parts  is  obviously  the  same,  so 
that  the  citation  of  the  one  is  absolutely  indispensable 
to  the  correct  exposition  of  the  other.  But  although  the 
kindred  character  of  these  predictions  has  been  long 
since  noted,  we  are  not  aware  that  the  attempt  has  ever 
been  made  to  identify  them  in  the  manner  or  to  the  extent 
which  we  now  propose  to  do. 

The  scope  of  the  prophecy  contained  in  the  chapters 
quoted  above  has  been  variously  understood  by  commen- 
tators. By  some  it  is  regarded  as  the  prediction  of  a 
formidable  invasion  against  the  land  of  Israel  subsequent 
to  their  return  fronl  the  Babylonish  captivity,  and  Gog  is 
considered  but  another  name  for  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
and  Magog  the  mystic  denomination  of  the  mingled  bar- 
barian hordes  which  fought  under  his  banner.  But  the 
history  of  the  Jewish  nation  discloses  no  events  in  any 
period  of  its  annals  which  answer  to  the  lofty  figurative 
representations  here  given,*  and  the  mass  of  commen- 
tators at  the  present  day  seem  inclined  to  rest  in  the  con- 
clusion briefly  stated  by  the  judicious  Editor  of  the  Com- 
prehensive Bible : — "  Though  it  is  not  generally  agreed 

*  "  Interpretes  tamen  sanioris  judicii  libenter  concedunt,  in- 
tegrum complementum  in  historia  nondura  demonstrari  posse, 
sed  in  futurum  tempus  esse  conjiciendum" — Interjjreters  of 
sound  judgment  freely  admits  that  thU  entire  fuljilment  cannot  as 
yet  be  demonstrated  from  history^  but  is  to  be  referred  to  the 
future. — Michaelis. 

T 


214  TREATISE    ON 

■what  people  or  transactions  are  here  predicted,  yet  it 
seems  evident  that  the  prophecy  is  not  yet  accomplished. 
Nothing  occurred  in  the  wars  of  Cambyses  or  Antiochus 
Epiphanes  with  the  Jews  that  answers  to  it ;  and  the 
expression  here  used — '  in  the  latter  days' — plainly  im- 
plies that  there  should  be  a  succession  of  many  ages 
between  the  publication  of  the  prediction  and  its  accom- 
plishment.    It  is  therefore  supposed,  whh  much  proba- 
bility, that  its  fulfilment  will  be  posterior  to  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Jews  and  their  restoration  to  their  own  land, 
and   that   the  Turks,  Tartars,  or  Scythians,  from  the 
northern  parts  of  Asia,  perhaps  uniting  with  the  inhabit- 
ants of  some  more  southern  regions,  will  make  war  upon 
the  Jews,  and  be  cut  off  in  the  manner  here  predicted."* 
It  will  doubtless  be  admitted,  then,  that  this  prediction  of 
Ezekiel  did  not  receive  its  fulfilment  prior  to  the  Chris- 
tian era,  and  if  we  seek  for  it  subsequent  to  that  date, 
we  presume  it  will  not  be  referred  to  an  earlier  period 
than  that  of  the  Turkish  invasion  of  the  eastern  pro- 
vinces of  the  Roman  empire  between  A.  D.  1000   and 
A.  D.  1452,  when  the  city  of  Constantinople  yielded  to 
the  Moslem  arms.     It  is  to  this  period,  in  fact,  in  our 
opinion,  that  the  prophecy  is  to  be  referred.     We  have 
no  doubt  that  the  hostile  power  adumbrated  by  Gog  and 
Magog,  is  identically  the   same  with  the   Euphratean 
horsemen  of  the    sixth  trumpet,  universally  allowed  to 
symbolize  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Ottoman  em- 
pire, and  of  this,  if  we  mistake  not,  the   evidence  will 
accumulate  with  every  step  of  our  ensuing  exposition. 

*  Greenfield's  Notes  in  loc. 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  215 

« Son  of  man,  set  thy  face  against  Gog,   the  land 
of  Magog,  the  chief  prince  of  Meshech  and  Tubal,  and 
prophesy  against  him,"  &c.     The  names  occurring  in 
the  commencement  of  this  prophecy  refer  us  directly  to 
the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis,  where  Moses  has  given  a 
detailed  account  of  the  peopling  of  the  earth  by  the  sev- 
eral sons  of  Noah  and  their  descendants.     *'  Now  these 
are  the  generations  of  the  sons  of  Noah :  Shem,  Ham, 
and  Japheth ;  and  unto  them  were  sons  born  after  the 
flood.     The  sons  of  Japheth,  Gomer,  and  Magog,  and 
Madai,  and  Javan,  and  Tubal,  and  Meshech,  and  Teras. 
And  the  sons  of  Gomer,  Ashkenah,  and  Riphath,  and 
Togarmah."     Now  from  the  fact  of  these  names  being 
retained  by  Ezekiel  so  long  after  their  original  posses- 
sors had  ceased  to  exist,  it  is  evident  that  they  are  to  be 
considered  as  the  names  of  nations,  and  not  of  persons. 
Indeed  there  are  few  idioms  more  frequent  in  the  Scrip- 
tures than  that  by  which  a  people,  even   to  the  latest 
generation,  are  called  by  the  name  of  their  primitive 
founder.     Thus  the  nation  of  the  Jews  is,  in  innumera- 
ble instances,  called  Israel,  from  Israel  or  Jacob,  the 
father   of  their   tribes ;  the  Edomites    are  repeatedly 
called  Edom,    after  the   name    given    to   Esau,    their 
founder ;  in  like  manner,  Moab  and  Ammon  are  national 
denominations  flowing  from  the  names  of  their  respective 
founders.     So  also  in  the  passage  of  the  prophet  before 
us,  Gog  and  Magog,  as  well  as  Meshech  and  Tubal,  are 
doubtless  to  be  construed  as  the  distinctive  appellations 
of  certain  people  inhabiting  those  tracts  and  territories 
of  the  globe  which  originally  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  indi- 
viduals whose  names  they  bore.    '  Gog,'  mdeed,  in  strict 


216  TREATISE    ON 

propriety,  appears  to  be  used  as  a  personification  of  the 
general  power  which  held  dominion  over  those  regions, 
just  as  we  say  of  '  the  Turk,'  in  modern  times,  that  he 
holds  possession  of  some  of  the  fairest  portions  of  the 
earth,  though  the  Turkish  empire  includes  in  reality  a 
great  number  of  different  nations.  The  expression, 
therefore,  *  against  Gog,  the  land  of  Magog,'  is  equiva- 
lent to,  *  against  Gog,  living  in,  or  ruling  over,  the  land 
of  Magog.'  In  consistency  with  this  figurative  phrase- 
ology the  same  allegorical  personage  is  called  the 
^prince  of  Meshech  and  Tubal.'  Now  it  is  universally 
conceded  that  '  Magog'  is  but  another  name  for  the  pop- 
ulous hordes  of  the  north  of  Asia  inhabiting  the  ancient 
Scythia.  "  Nothing,"  says  Vitringa,  "  is  more  certain 
and  indubitable  than  that  by  '  Gog  and  Magog,'  in  Eze- 
kiel,  are  denoted  the  posterity  of  Japheth,  or  those 
northern  nations  which  peopled  the  country  lying  be- 
tween the  Euxine  and  Caspian  seas,  and  the  region 
still  farther  north,  extending  from  the  Tanais  on  the 
west  to  the  Mount  Imaus  on  the  east."*  Rosenmuller 
also  observes,  that  "  after  what  Bochart  and  Michaelis 
have  written  on  the  subject,  it  is  no  longer  susceptible  of 
doubt,  that  by  '  Magog'  here  is  intended  the  Scythia  of 
the  orientals."!  In  Gen.  10.  2.  Magog  is  placed  be- 
tween Gomer  and  Madai,  that  is,  the  Cimmerians  and 
the  Medes,  to  the  north  of  each  of  whom  were  the 
Scythians.  In  fact  there  were  no  nations  known  to  the 
Hebrews  situated  farther  to  the  north  than  those  which 
are  here  associated  with  Gog ;  and  in  answer  to  the 

*  Vitring.  in  Apoc.  p.  871. 

t  RosenmuL  Commsnt.  in  Es^ek.  ch.  30.  2. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  217 

question  whether  the  Magog  of  the  Scriptures  is  to  be 
taken  in  the  same  latitude  with  the  Scythia  of  the 
Greeks  and  Latins,  or  whether  the  title  is  to  be  restricted 
to  some  particular  region  of  Scythia  with  its  inhabitants, 
Michaelis  holds  decidedly  to  the  former.  *  Neither  the 
geographical  allusions,'  says  he,  *  of  Moses  or  Ezekiel,  or 
the  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  race,  extended  beyond 
Magog,  and  the  prophet  here  assigns  to  the  power  pre- 
dicted, too  immense  an  army  to  consist  with  a  territory 
of  moderate  dimensions.'  As  therefore  the  remote 
regions  of  the  north  and  the  north-east  were  so  little 
known  to  the  inhabitants  of  central  Asia,  there  is  every 
probability  that  those  numerous  tribes  of  barbarians, 
comprised  by  the  ancients  under  the  general  name  of 
Scythians,  and  by  the  moderns  under  that  of  Tartars, 
are  here  included  in  the  denomination  of  Magog.  Je- 
rome expressly  qffirms,  '  that  the  Jews  of  his  age  un- 
derstood by  Magog  the  vast  and  innumerable  nations  of 
Scythia,  about  Mount  Caucasus,  and  the  Palus  Mseo- 
tis,  and  stretching  on  from  thence  along  the  Caspian  to- 
wards India.'  This  is  confirmed  by  the  language  of 
Josephus,  who  says,  *  that  Magog  founded  those  nations 
which  from  him  were  named  Magogitis,  but  which  by 
the  Greeks  are  called  Scythians.'*     The  Syriac  and 

*  '*  Now  this  Gog,  who  brings  with  him  the  confederacy  of 
all  the  nations,  is  not  by  us  to  be  mistaken,  who  can  add  to  the 
light  of  ancient  geography  which  our  fathers  have  left  us,  the 
observation  of  God's  providence,  which  is  showing  forth 
Gog's  great  ascendant  povyer  in  the  sight  of  the  whole  world. 
The  land  of  Magog  is  generally,  and  indeed  beyond  doubt, 
fixed  to  be  the  land  beyond  Mount  Caucasus  ;  all  which,  with- 
out exception,  is  now  possessed  by  the  Emperor  of  the  JVorth. 

T  2 


218  TREATISE    OW 

Arabic  writers,  in  like  manner,  frequently  introduce  the 
names  of  Gog  and  Magog  as  a  familiar  designation  of 
the  Tartar  nations  bordering  upon  India,  and  the  Mo- 
hammedan tradition  respecting  the  appearance  of  Gog 
and  Magog  among  the  precursors  of  the  resurrection  is 
very  remarkable.  Among  the  portentous  signs  of  that 
grand  event,  Sale  enumerates  '  the  eruption  of  Gog  and 
Magog,  or  as  they  are  called  in  the  east,  Yajuj  and 
M4j(ij  ;  of  whom  many  things  are  related  in  the  Koran, 
and  the  traditions  of  Mohammed.  These  barbarians, 
they  tell  us,  having  passed  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  which 
the  vanguard  of  their  vast  army  will  drink  dry,  will 
come  to  Jerusalem  and  greatly  distress  Jesus  and  his 
companions ;  till  at  his  request  God  will  destroy  them, 

And  from  Gog,  it  is  believed  by  the  learned,  that  the  very  name 
of  Caucasus  (Gogasus)^  as  also  the  name  of  Georgia,  or  Gor- 
dia,  in  that  district,  is  derived.  Also  from  Magog  they  reckon 
that  the  Mseotic  lake,  or  Sea  of  Asoph,  hath  its  mime.  Gog 
is  called  the  prince  of  Ross,  Meshech,  and  Tubal.  The  Mus- 
covites are  believed,  by  common  consent,  to  be  the  people  of 
Meshech,  and  with  them  the  people  of  Tubal  are  constantly 
joined.  They  are  thought  to  have  settled  at  the  heads  of  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris,  between  the  Euxine  and  the  Caspian 
seas ;  and  from  thence  to  have  sent  up  colonies  to  people  the 
north  ;  of  which  it  is  believed  that  the  Tobolski  are  one.  Now 
the  river  Araxes,  which  runs  through  that  region,  was  anciently, 
and  is  still  by  the  Arabians,  called  Ross  :  so  that  Ross,  Me- 
shech, and  Tubal,  which  compose  the  princedom  of  Gog,  doth 
take  in  the  region  from  the  mouth  of  the  Volga  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Don  ;  from  which  region  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
people  called  the  Rossi  or  Russians,  the  Mosci  or  Muscovites, 
and  the  Tobolski,  have  proceeded,  and  all  these  northern  coun- 
tries have  been  peopled."— /rfm"-'^  Discourses  on  DanieVs 
Vision  of  the  four  Beasts^  p.  476. 


,     THE   MILLENNIUM.  219 

and  fill  the  earth  with  their  carcasses,  which  after  some 
time  <jrod  will  send  birds  to  carry  away,  at  the  prayers 
of  Jesus  and  his  followers.  Their  bows,  arrows,  and 
quivers  the  Moslems  will  burn  for  seven  years  together  ; 
and  at  last  God  will  send  a  rain  to  cleanse  the  earth, 
and  make  it  fertile.'*  This  tradition  is  evidently  a  dis- 
torted reflection  of  the  scriptural  prophecy,  like  many 
other  things  contained  in  the  Koran,  which  appear,  com- 
pared with  the  truth,  like  an  object  seen  at  the  bottom  of 
a  river  or  lake  when  the  surface  is  roughened  by  the 
wind.f  Again,  it  is  remarked  by  Bochart  that  the  land 
of  Gog  and  Magog  is  the  region  about  Mount  Cauca- 
sus, which  the  neighbouring  Colchi  and  Armenians  in 
their  semi-Chaldaic  dialect  termed  |Dn  JU,  Gog-hasan, 
i.  e.  fortress  of  Gog,  which  the  Greeks  softened  to  Kecv 
xutrov,  Caucasus,  in  the  same  manner  as  they  changed  the 
Heb.  ^uiigamal,  cQmel,  into  >c«^»;A<»$,  camelus.  The  name 
is  also  detected  in  '  Gogarene,'  a  part  of  Iberia,  men- 
tioned by  Strabo ;  and  Wells  maintains  that  the  Maeotic 
Lake  took  its  name  from  the  descendants  of  Magog 
settled  about  it ;  for  from  Magog  is  regularly  formed 
Magogitis,  or  Magotis,  which  last  the  Greeks  might 
easily  mould  into  Maiotis,  rendered  by  the  Latins 
McBotis.X 

*  Sale's  Koran,  Prelim.  Dis.  p.  111. 

t  "  The  legend  of  the  Koran  teaches  moreover  that  Gog  and 
Magog  were  to  be  restrained  within  the  limits  of  their  appropri- 
ate region,  by  an  immense  wall  of  iron  and  brass,  till  the  expira- 
tion of  a  certain  predicted  period,  when  the  wall  was  to  be  re- 
duced to  dust,  and  they  were  again  to  go  forth  as  a  desolating 
scourge  upon  the  earth.'' — Sale's  Koran^  vol.  ii.  p.  140.  Lond. 
1825. 

X  "  What  particular  nations  these  shall  be  is  not  fully  agreed 


220  TREATISE    ON 

Now  it  is  unquestionable  that  there  is  no  point  in  re- 
spect to  the  origin  of  nations  more  certain  than  that  the 
Turks  are  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Scythians. 
*'  In  the  midst  of  these  obscure  calamities,"  says  Gib- 
bon, "  Europe  felt  the  shock  of  a  revolution,  which  first 
revealed  to  the  world  the  name  and  nation  of  the  Turks. 
Like  Romulus,  the  founder  of  that  martial  people  was 
suckled  by  a  she-wolf,  who  afterward  made  him  the 
father  of  a  numerous  progeny ;  and  the  representation 
of  that  animal  in  the  banners  of  the  Turks  preserved 
the  memory,  or  rather  suggested  the  idea,  of  a  fable, 
which  was  invented,  without  any  mutual  intercourse,  by 
the  shepherds  of  Latium  and  those  of  Scythia.  The 
sides  of  the  hills  were  productive  of  minerals,  and  the 
iron  forges,  for  the  purposes  of  war,  were  exercised  by 
the  Turks,  the  most  despised  portion  of  the  great  Khan 
of  Geougen  (query — a  derivative  from  Gog  ?)."* 

by  learned  men,  who  have  turned  their  attention  to  this  subject. 
But  the  best  founded  opinion  is,  that  the  Scjthians  are  de- 
scended from  Magog.  It  is  also  said,  that  the  Mogul  Tartars, 
a  people  of  the  Scythian  race,  are  still  called  Magog  by  the 
Arabian  writers,  who,  beyond  the  writers  of  every  other  coun- 
try, have  preserved  ancient  names  and  customs.  That  they 
shall  be  a  northern  nation  Ezekiel  plainly  declares  in  ch.  58.  15. 
'  And  thou  shalt  come  from  thy  place  out  of  the  north  parts, 
thou  and  many  people  with  thee.'  This  he  predicts  of  Gog  in 
the  latter  days.  Hence  it  is  highly  probable  that  Gog  and  Ma- 
gog signify  the  Mogul  Tartars,  and  certain  that  they  signify 
these  nations,  be  they  who  they  will,  who  shall  in  fact  be  the 
lineal  descendants  of  Magog,  Tubal,  Meshech,  and  Togarmah, 
at  the  end  of  the  Millennium." — Johnston  on  Rev.  vol.  ii.  p. 
356. 

♦Decline  and  Fall,  p.  717. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  221 

Their  first  appearance,  however,  upon  the  European 
stage,  was  at  a  period  too  early  to  answer  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  this  prophecy ;  but  their  incursions  weYe  check- 
ed, and  in  the  language  of  symbols  they  were  bound 
irij  or  rather  at  or  about,  the  river  Euphrates,  till  released 
by  the  blast  of  the  sixth  trumpet,  when  they  were 
again  let  loose,  and  poured  themselves  down  upon  the 
Apocalyptic  *  earth.'  It  was  this  second  irruption  of 
the  northern  nations  (called  by  Dan.  11.  40.  *the  king 
of  the  north'),  in  reference  to  which  Gibbon  remarks, 
that  "  When  the  black  swarm  first  hung  over  Europe, 
they  were  mistaken  (rather,  rightly  taken)  hy  fear  and 
superstition  for  the  Gog  and  Magog  of  the  Scriptures, 
the  signs  and  forerunners  of  the  end  of  the  world."* 
Our  main  position,  therefore,  viz.  that  the  Turks  and 
Tartars  of  modern  times,  inhabiting  the  very  countries 
of  the  Gog  and  Magog,  and  genealogically  descended 
from  them,  are  prophetically  pointed  at  in  the  scope  of 
this  oracle,  may  be  considered  as  fully  established. 
We  proceed  then  in  our  explication,  the  progress  of 
which  will  throw  slill  clearer  light  upon  the  position 
above  mentioned. 

"  The  chief  prince  of  Meshech  and  Tubal."  The 
original,  h2^n\  ^jB'p  K'NI  J^'K'J,  Gr.  d^^ovru  Pw?,  Moo-'o^, 
xui  0o/3fA,  may  be  rendered  as  it  is  by  Bochart  and 
others — prince  of  Ross,  Meshech,  and  Tubal,  as  the 
Heb.  term  tm,  Rosh,  for  head  or  chief,  is  supposed  by 
many  to  be  a  proper  name,  the  genuine  radix  of  RuS' 
sia,  as  Meshech,  Gr.  Mosoch,  betrays  its  affinity  with 
Muscovy.     "  The  learned  Bochart,"  says  Wells,t  "  has 

♦  Dec!,  and  Fall,  p.  1021.        t  Sac.  Geog.  p,  23.  4to  ed. 


222  TREATISE  ON 

observed  from  the  Nubian  geographer,  that  the  river  in 
Armenia  called  by  the  Greeks  Araxes,  is  by  the  Ara- 
bians called  Rosh ;  and  he  not  only  probably  infers, 
that  the  people  that  lived  in  the  country  about  that  river, 
were  denominated  Rosh ;  but  also  proves  from  Jose- 
phus  Ben   Gorion,  that  there  was  a  people  in  these 
parts  named  Rhossi.     Now  the  Moschi   and  Rhossi 
being  thus  neighbours  in  Asia,  their  colonies  kept  to- 
gether in  Europe  :  those  of  the  Moschi  in  the  provmce 
of  Muscovy,  i.  e.  about  Moscow ;  those  of  the  Rhossi 
in  the  parts   adjoining  on  the  south.     On  the  whole, 
therefore,  it  may  be  very  properly  believed,  that  the 
Muscovites  and  Russians  in  Europe  were  colonies  of 
Meshech,  or  of  Meshech  and  Tubal  jointly."     We  are 
still,  therefore,  conversant  with  the  northern  nations 
of  the   eastern  continent,  the  very  nations  whose  de- 
scendants   afterward  fell   under  the  dominion  of  the 
Turks,  and  have  remained  so  to  the  present  day. 

"  And  I  will  turn  thee  back,  and  put  hooks  into  thy 
jaws,  and  I  will  bring  thee  forth,  and  all  thine  army, 
horses  and  horsemen,"  &c.  The  original  for  '  I  will 
turn  thee  back'  is  considered  by  Grotius,  following 
some  of  the  ancient  versions,  as  equivalent  to  the  Greek 
Tre^iTT^i-^ci^  and  the  Latin  circumagam,  I  will  turn  thee 
hither  and  thither ;  implying  that  his  movements  should 
be  so  entirely  under  providential  control,  that  while 
aiming  to  accomplish  his  own  infatuated  counsels,  he 
should  be  led,  drawn,  or  driven,  as  a  horse  is  reined 
and  guided  at  the  will  of  his  rider,  or  as  the  fish,  which 
has  taken  the  hook  into  its  mouth,  is  drawn  in  the  water 
one  way  or  the  other  according  to  the  pleasure  of  the 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  223 

angler.*  As  it  is  the  prerogative  of  the  Most  High  to 
make  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  while  the  re- 
mainder of  wrath  he  restrains,  so  in  the  present  instance 
he  announces  his  intention  of  so  overruling  the  mad 
and  headstrong  projects  of  the  invaders,  that  in  their 
wildest  career  they  should  still  be  bringing  to  pass  the 
secret  purposes  of  the  infinite  mind.  The  present  ren- 
dering, *  turn  thee  back,'  is  evidently  incorrect,  as  it  is 
said  immediately  after,  *  I  will  bring  thee  forth.'  With 
what  conceivable  propriety  could  he  be  said  to  be 
'  turned  back'  before  he  had  '  gone  forth  V  The  true 
import  is  doubtless  that  which  we  have  given  above — 
*  In  bringing  thee  forth  I  will  lead  and  turn  thee  this 
way  and  that,  as  it  seemeth  good  unto  me.' 

A  striking  note  of  identification  is  afforded  us  in  the 
allusion  to  the  horses  and  horsemen,  which  were  to 
constitute  the  stre;pgth  of  this  tremendous  armament. 
It  brings  the  prediction  into  direct  parallelism  with  that 
of  John  in  the  Revelation,  in  announcing  under  the 
sixth  trumpet  the  fearful  expedition  of  the  Euphratean 
horsemen,  or  the  myriads  of  the  Turkish  cavalry.  Rev. 
9.  16.  'And  the  number  of  the  army  of  the  horsemen 
were  two  hundred  thousand  thousand :  and  I  heard  the 
number  of  them.'  The  historian  of  the  Decline  and 
Fall,  who  seems,  in  the  construction  of  his  great  work, 
to  have  been  '  led  by  the  nose'  very  much  in  the  man- 
ner of  the  people  whose  annals  he  relates,  thus  yields 
his  constrained  attestation  to  the  truth  of  the  inspired 
word.     "As    the   subject  nations   marched  under  the 

*  "Rather, 'I  will  mislead  thee  ;'  or,  more  paraphrasticalljr, 
*  I  will  infatuate  thy  counsels.'  " — Horsley. 


224  TREATISE    ON 

Standard  of  the  Turks,  their  cavalry^  with  men  and 
horses,  were  proudly  computed  by  millions.''''*  "  The 
sultan  had  inquired  what  supply  of  men  he  could  fur- 
nish for  military  service.  '  If  you  send,'  replied  Ish- 
mael,  '  one  of  these  arrows  into  our  camp,  fifty  thou- 
sand of  your  servants  ivill  mount  on  horseback.^  '  And 
if  that  number,'  continued  Mehmud,  *  should  not  be  suf- 
ficient, send  this  arrow  to  the  horde  of  Bulik,  and  you 
will  find  fifty  thousand  more.  '  But,'  said  Gaznevide, 
dissembling  his  anxiety,  '  if  I  should  stand  in  need  of 
the  whole  force  of  your  kindred  tribes  V  *  Despatch 
my  bow,'  was  the  last  reply  of  Ishmael,  '  and  as  it  is 
circulated  around,  the  summons  will  be  obeyed  by  two 
hundred  thousand  horse.'  "f  "  The  Roman  emperors 
were  suddenly  assaulted  by  an  unknown  race  of  barba- 
rians, who  united  the  Scythian  valour  with  the  fanaticism 
of  new  proselytes,  and  the  art  and  riches  of  a  powerful 
monarchy.  The  myriads  of  Turkish  horse  overspread 
a  frontier  of  six  hundred  miles  from  Tauris  to  Arze- 
roum ;  and  the  blood  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  thou- 
sand Christians  was  a  grateful  sacrifice  to  the  Arabian 
prophet."!  The  Prophet  Daniel,  in  a  parallel  predic- 
tion, Dan.  11.  40,  thus  announces  the  desolating  irrup- 
tion of  the  Turkish  power ;  "  And  the  king  of  the 
north  shall  come  against  him  like  a  whirlwind,  with 
chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  and  with  many  ships  ;  and 
he  shall  enter  the  countries,  and  shall  overflow,  and 
shall  pass  over.  He  shall  enter  also  into  the  glorious 
land  (the  land  of  Palestine),  and  many  countries  shall 
be  overthrown."  The  Turkish  forces  were  in  fact  com- 
*Decl.  andFall,  p.717.        t  lb.  1055.        t  lb.  1058. 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  225 

posed  of  a  vast  coUuvies  of  barbarous  nations,  which, 
disdaining  infantry  as  unsuited  to  the  rapidity  of  their 
movements,  poured  themselves  down  in  immense  bodies 
of  cavalry  from  the  mountains  and  fastnesses  of  the 
north,  sweeping  like  a  torrent,  a  tempest,  or  a  whirl- 
wind over  the  Asiatic  provinces  of  Rome. 

"  Persia,  Ethiopia,  and  Libya  with  them ;  all  of  them 
with  shield  and  helmet :  Gomer  and  all  his  bands ;  the 
house  of  Togarmah  of  the  north  quarter,"  &c.  This  is 
a  farther  specification  of  the  various  tribes  and  people 
who  were  to  range  themselves  under  the  Turkish  ban- 
ner, forming  a  constituent  part  of  the  grand  confederacy 
of  Gog  and  Magog.  We  here  see  them  flocking  from 
the  north,  the  east,  and  the  south,  thus  fulfilling  the 
terms  of  the  Apocalyptic  prediction,  that  after  the 
expiration  of  the  thousand  years,  '  the  nations  which 
were  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  eartJC  should  be  gath- 
ered together  in  that  fatal  enterprise. 

"  Be  thou  prepared,  and  prepare  for  thyself,  thou, 
and  all  thy  company,"  &;c.  We  have  before  remarked 
that  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  now  under  consideration 
contemplates  precisely  the  same  series  of  events  with 
that  of  the  sixth  trumpet  of  the  Apocalypse,  and  that 
both  refer  to  the  period  and  the  power  of  the  post- 
millennial  Gog  and  Magog.  We  have  therefore  a 
triple  announcement  of  the  same  momentous  issue  by 
which  a  particular  period  of  the  world  was  to  be  dis- 
tinguished ;  and  if  to  these  we  add  certain  predictions 
in  Daniel  touching  upon  the  same  occurrences,  it  may 
be  said  that  they  are  set  forth  in  a  fourfold  diversity  of 
representation. 

U 


226  TREATISE    Olf 

Now  it  is  worthy  of  especial  note,  that  in  the  vision 
of  the  sixth  trumpet,  when  the  four  Euphratfean  angels, 
that  is,  the  four  Turkish  sultanies,  were  to  be  loosed 
from  their  previous  restraint,  it  is  said,  Rev.  9.  15.  that 
'  the  four  angels  were  loosed,  which  were  prepared  (o/ 
tTotiA.it<r[A,£voi)  for  an  hour,  and  a  day,  and  a  month,  and 
a  year,'  by  which  we  are  inclined  to  believe  is  simply 
intended,  that  they  should  all  of  them  be  ready  precisely 
at  one  and  the  same  time,  even  on  the  very  same  year^ 
month,  day,  and  hour,  to  perform  their  appointed  work. 
The  accumulation  of  these  four  terms  seems  designed 
merely  to  make  the  language  more  emphatical,  and  to 
represent  it  as  a  wonderful  occurrence,  that  these  differ- 
ent principalities  should  be  prepared  in  the  providence 
of  God,  simultaneously  to  break  the  bonds  by  which 
they  had  hitherto  been  impeded,  and  to  do  it  also  at  that 
precise  point  of  time  which  had  been  predetermined  in 
the  divine  counsels.  We  conceive,  therefore,  that  the 
expression  '  prepared'  carries  in  it  a  direct  allusion  to 
the  same  phraseology  in  the  Old  Testament  prophet ; 
'  Be  thou  prepared  (sToi/^MTStin) ;'  i.  e.  be  thou  ready  at 
the  appointed  time.  It  is  in  this  sense  of  being  ready 
that  the  original  term  occurs  in  the  following  passages  : 
Ex.  19.  11.  15.  *And  he  ready  {troif^oi)  against  the 
third  day."  Josh.  8.  4.  '  Go  not  very  far  from  the 
city,  but  he  ye  all  ready  (fVfe-^e  jravres  sroif^ot).^  And  so 
elsewhere.  The  import,  then,  of  the  words  may  be 
supposed  to  be,  that  whatever  might  be  the  purposes  or 
attempts  of  these  northern  invaders,  their  menacing 
might  was  to  be  held  in  abeyance  up  to  the  comple- 
tion of  a  certain  definite  period,  when  the  providential 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  227 

restraints  which  had  hitherto  curbed  their  operations 
should  be  removed,  and  that  then,  being  fully  ready^ 
every  barrier  should  be  burst,  and  nothing  farther  should 
oppose  them  in  the  accomplishment  at  once  of  their 
own  designs  and  those  of  heaven.  Accordingly,  as  if 
to  explain  this  intimation,  it  is  immediately  added : — 

"  After  many  days  thou  shalt  be  visited ;  in  the  latter 
years  thou  shalt  come  into  the  land  that  is  brought 
back  from  the  sword,  <fec.  Thou  shalt  ascend  and  come 
like  a  storm,  thou  shalt  be  like  a  cloud  to  cover  the 
land,"  &:c.  This  must  certainly  be  considered  as 
throwing  forward  the  date  of  the  fulfilment  of  this  pro- 
phecy to  a  period  very  far  removed  from  the  age  of  the 
prophet  by  whom  the  oracle  was  uttered.  The  phrase 
— '  in  the  latter  years,'  literally,  '  in  the  posteriority  of 
years' — when  occurring  in  the  Old  Testament,  almost 
invariably  refers  to 'the  period  of  the  Gospel  dispensa- 
tion, and  generally  to  the  concluding  part  of  that  period, 
so  that  it  is  evident  we  are  to  look  for  the  completion  of 
the  prophecy  to  a  date  considerably  subsequent  to  the 
Christian  era.  The  inspired  assurance  is,  that  after 
this  long  tract  of  time  has  been  passed  over,  Gog  and 
Magog  shall,  in  some  sense,  '  be  visited.'  The  question 
is,  in  what  sense  ?  The  term  taken  by  itself  is  am- 
biguous ;  for  in  the  scripture  idiom  God  is  said  to  '  visit' 
both  when  he  executes  his  purposes  of  judgment  and 
of  mercy.  Thus  it  is  said  of  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  made  to  Sarah  respecting  the  birth  of  a  son. 
Gen.  21.  1.  that  '  the  Lord  t;2577e^  Sarah  as  he  had  said, 
and  the  Lord  did  unto  Sarah  as  he  had  spoken.'  On 
Uie  other  hand,  in  speaking  of  the  punishment  of  Korah, 


228  TREATISE    ON 

Dathan,  and  Abiram,  it  is  said,  Num.  16.  29.  'If  these 
men  die  the  common  death  of  all  men,  or  if  they  be 
visited  after  the  visitatio?i  of  all  men,  then  the  Lord 
hath  not  sent  me.'  So  also  Is.  26.  14.  *  Therefore 
hast  thou  visited  and  destroyed  them,  and  made  all  their 
memory  to  perish.'  In  the  present  instance,  however, 
this  latter  acceptation  of  the  term  seems  less  pertinent, 
as  the  object  in  these  verses  is  mainly  to  describe  the 
warlike  apparatus  and  the  annihilating  purpose  of  Gog, 
while  the  intimation  of  his  punishment  is  deferred  to  the 
18th  verse;  'And  it  shall  come  to  pass  at  the  same 
time  when  Gog  shall  come  against  the  land  of  Israel, 
saith  the  Lord  God,  that  my  fury  shall  come  up  in  my 
face.'  A  more  appropriate  signification  then  must  be 
sought  for  the  word  in  this  connexion.  By  recurrence 
to  scriptural  usage  we  find  a  number  of  instances  where 
the  Hebrew  np3,  to  visits  is  used  in  the  sense  of  ap- 
pointing as  an  overseer,  giving  in  charge,  entrusting 
with  a  commission,  and  in  the  passive,  of  being  thus 
appointed,  designated,  or  empowered.  Thus  Gen.  34.  4. 
'  And  he  made  him  (Joseph)  overseer  over  his  house,  and 
all  that  he  had  he  put  into  his  hand.'  Here  the  original 
is  literally  '  he  made  him  to  visit.'  So  Num.  3.  10. 
'And  thou  shalt  appoint  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  they 
shall  wait  on  their  priests'  office.'  2  Chron.  36.  23. 
'  Thus  saith  Cyrus,  King  of  Persia,  All  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth  hath  the  Lord  God  of  heaven  given  me,  and 
he  hath  charged  me  to  build  him  an  house  in  Jerusalem.' 
Job  34.  13.  'Who  hath  given  him  a  charge  over  the 
earth  V  Job  36,  23.  '  Who  hath  enjoined  him  his  way  V 
Neb.  7.  1.  'And  wheri  the  porters,  and  the  singers,  anc^ 


TTHE    MILLENNIUM.  229 

tlie  Levites  were  appoi7Ued'  (Heb.  *  were  visited*).  Neh. 
i2.  44.  'And  at  that  time  were  some  appointed  (Heb. 
*  visited')  over  the  chambers  for  the  treasures,'  <fcc. 
Guided  by  this  clew  we  apprehend  the  genuine  import 
of  the  term  before  us  to  be,  that  '  after  many  days,'  or 
M'hen  the  destined  era  had  elapsed,  Gog  and  Magog 
should,  in  the  deep  counsels  of  heaven,  be  appointed, 
commissioned,  and  receive  it  in  charge^  to  execute,  as 
the  organs  of  the  divine  will,  a  great  and  momentous 
work ;  and  this  work  the  prophet  immediately  goes  on 
to  describe.  The  degenerate  nations  of  Christendom 
had,  by  their  sins,  rendered  themselves  obnoxious  to  the 
judgments  of  God,  and  these  rude  but  powerful  tribes 
were  to  be  the  instruments  by  which  they  should  be 
inflicted.  They  are  accordingly  apostrophized  to  this 
effect,  as  were  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Cyrus  when  em- 
ployed for  a  similar  purpose.  "  O  Assyrian,  the  rod  of 
mine  anger,  and  the  staff  in  their  hand  is  mine  indigna- 
tion. I  will  send  him  against  an  hypocritical  nation, 
and  against  the  people  of  my  wrath  will  I  give  him  a 
charge,  to  take  the  spoil,  and  to  take  the  prey,  <fc;c. 
Howbeithe  meaneth  not  so,  neither  doth  his  heart  think 
so  ;  but  it  is  in  his  heart  to  destroy  and  cut  off  nations 
not  a  few."  In  either  case  the  agents  employed  were  in- 
tent upon  the  accomplishment  of  private  ends  of  their 
own,  and  never  dreamt  that  they  were  bringing  to  pass 
the  pre-determined  and  pre-announced  counsels  of  Him 
who  sways  the  hearts  of  kings  and  the  movements  of 
armies  at  his  pleasure.  This  view  of  the  passage  is 
confirmed  by  the  renderings  of  some  o^  the  ancient  ver- 
U  2 


230  TilEATlSE    OW 

sions.  The  Chal.  Targum  has  it ;  '  After  many  days 
thou  shalt  prepare  thy  forces ;'  and  the  Syriae,  *  Thou 
shall  receive  charge,  or  commandment.'  The  Septua- 
gint  employs  eroif^cuc-^^s-}!,  thou  shalt  be  in  readiness ; 
i,  e.  in  readiness  to  act  in  subserviency  to  the  will  of 
the  Most  High. 

In  this  connexion  we  cannot  but  advert  to  a  remark- 
able but  obscure  passage  in  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  of 
which  w^e  imagine  the  true  key  is  to  be  found  in  the 
burden  of  Ezekiel  now  under  consideration,  and  in  the 
parallel  prediction  of  the  Apocalypse.  Is.  24.  21,  22. 
*  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the  Lord 
shall  punish  the  host  of  the  high  ones  that  are  on  high, 
and  the  kings  of  the  earth  upon  the  earth.  And  they 
shall  be  gathered  together  as  prisoners  are  gathered  in 
the  pit,  and  shall  be  shut  up  in  the  prison,  and  after 
many  days  shall  they  be  visited.'  We  regard  these  two 
verses  as  an  epitome  of  the  twelfth  and  twentieth  chap- 
ters of  the  Revelation ;  the  first  containing  the  war  in 
heaven  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Dragon  and  his  angels  ; 
and  the  second,  the  binding  of  Satan  as  a  prisoner  in 
the  pit  of  the  abyss,  and  his  release  in  the  person  of  Gog 
and  Magog  at  the  close  of  the  thousand  years.  It 
would  subject  us  to  too  wide  a  digression  to  enter  fully 
into  the  consideration  of  the  time,  occasion,  scope,  con- 
nexion, &;c.  of  the  prediction  of  which  these  verses  form 
a  part,  but  that  the  language  quoted  is  singularly  ger- 
man  to  that  of  Ezekiel  in  the  chapter  under  review,  is 
obvious  to  every  eye  ;  and  it  has  never,  moreover,  been 
appropriated  by  commentators  in  such  a  way  as  to  for- 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  231 

bid  our  present  application  of  it.*  In  each  of  the 
prophets  the  power  predicted  is  represented  as  held  for 
a  certain  time  in  some  kind  of  durance  or  restraint,  and 
in  each  it  is  said  that  this  power  '  after  many  days  shall 
be  visited' — visited,  that  is,  in  the  sense  of  having  ob- 
structions removed,  and  of  being  designated  to  the  per- 
formance of  certain  signal  exploits,  the  pre-ordainment 
of  Heaven.  Thus  we  perceive  how  the  rays  of  scrip- 
tural light  converge  from  every  quarter  to  illustrate  the 
history  of  the  symbolical  Dragon  in  his  doings  and  his 
destiny.  Considered  as  the  prompting  genius  of  the 
Pagan  dominion,  he  is  first  struck  down  from  the  alle- 
gorical heavens  ('  the  Lord  shall  punish  the  host  of  the 
high  ones  that  are  on  high'),  and  then  immured  in  the 

*  Aben-Ezra  upon  this  passage  remarks; — "  Omnes  inter- 
pretes  consentiunt,  ex  pericopa  hujus  capitis  id  quod  in  loco 
hoc  (sc.  V.  14  et  seqq.)  dicitur,  intelligendum  esse  de  bello  Gogi 
etMago  giterapore  future." — All  the  inter  prefers  agree  that  that 
which  is  said  from  this  section  of  the  chapter  (v.  14.)  and  onwards, 
is  to  be  understood  of  the  war  of  Gog  and  Magog  in  some  future 
time, 

Vitringa  also,  in  the  introduction  to  his  Commentary  on  the 
24th  ch.  of  Isaiah,  thus  expresses  his  conviction  of  the  identity 
of  scope  between  this  and  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel ; — "  Nee  alio 
tendit  propbetia  Ezehielis  de  Gogo  ct  Magogo,  in  ipsa  terra 
Canaanaj  tandem  prosternendis  ;  quae  prophetia  censeri  debet 
huic  noslrse  esse  parallela  ;  unde  TrapaXA^Xm  (ppaatws  Is.  24.  22. 
Post  plicres  dies  visitahuntur  cum  Ezeoh.  38.  8.  ubi  eadem  phra- 
ais." — Nor  does  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel,  respecting  the  futurede- 
struciion  of  Gog  and  Magog  in  the  land  of  Canaan  look  any  other 
way ;  which  prophecy  ought  to  be  considered  parallel  to  this  of 
ours ;  whence  the  parallelism  of  phrase  in  Is.  24.  22.  '  After  many 
days  thou  shalt  be  visited^'  and  Ezek.  38.  8.  uhere  the  same  ex* 
pression  occurs. 


232  TREATISE  ON 

prison-house  of  the  mystic  abyss  ('  as  prisoners  are 
gathered  in  the  pit,  and  shall  be  shut  up  in  the  prison') 
for  the  space  of  a  thousand  years,  when  the  word  of 
prophecy  proclaims  the  opening  again  of  his  prison- 
doors,  and  the  divine  '  visitation,'  for  wise  and  holy  ends, 
sends  him  once  more  abroad  in  pernicious  freedom  to 
wreak  his  ire  upon  the  nations. 

But  who  are  to  be  more  especially  the  victims  of  his 
machinations  on  this  his  second  sally  into  the  territories 
of  which  he  had  been  dispossessed  ?  *  Thou  shalt  come 
into  the  land  that  is  brought  back  from  the  sword,  and 
is  gathered  out  of  many  people,  against  the  mountains 
of  Israel  which  have  been  always  (i.  e,  a  long  time) 
waste.'  Upon  these  words  a  commentator  remarks, 
that  by  '  the  mountains  of  Israel'  is  to  be  understood  the 
dwelling  places  of  the  church,  and  by  the  '  Israelites,' 
Christians.*  It  is  unquestionable  that  the  subjects  of 
the  Gospel  dispensation  are  usually  spoken  of  by  the 
Old  Testament  prophets  under  the  denomination  of 
*  Israel ;'  for  as  the  Apostle  assures  us,  *  he  is  not  a 
Jew  (Israelite)  which  is  one  outwardly  ;  neither  is  that 
circumcision  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh  ;  but  he  is  a 
Jew  which  is  one  inwardly ;  and  circumcision  is  that  of 
the  heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter.'  Christians, 
therefore,  constitute  the  spiritual  Israel,t  and  a  predicted 
hostile  aggression  against  the  church,  against  a  people 
professing  Christianity^  would  naturally  be  couched  in 

*  Per  monies  Israel  hospitia  ecclesise ;  per  Israelitas  Christian 
intelligunlur. — Michaelis. 

t '  And  as  many  as  walk  according  to  this  rule,  peace  be  on 
thejii,  and  mercy,  and  upon  the  Israel  of  God. ^     Gal.  6.  16. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  233 

language  like  that  before  us.  As  we  have  seen,  how- 
ever, that  *  mountains,'  in  the  idiom  of  the  prophets,  is 
a  term  denoting  governments,  kingdoms,  or .  principali- 
ties, the  phrase  *  mountains  of  Israel'  more  strictly  im- 
plies the  states,  peoples,  or  bodies  politic  inhabiting  the 
regions  of  Christendom.  These  Christian  nations, 
therefore,  spread  over  the  territories  of  the  church, 
were  to  be  the  objects  of  this  formidable  northern  inva- 
sion. But  it  is  said  to  be  a  land  'brought  back  from 
the  sword,  and  gathered  out  of  many  people  ;'  that  is, 
rescued,  redeemed,  delivered  from  actual  or  threatened 
subjugation.  This  we  suppose  to  have  been  effected 
by  the  Crusades,  by  which  the  first  torrent  of  this  Turkish 
invasion  was  checked  and  turned  back.  "  No  sooner," 
says  a  late  writer,  "  had  the  Turks  entered  the  Holy 
Land,  and  taken  possession  of  Jerusalem,  than  Europe 
was  in  motion  arjd  in  arms  ;  and  nations  marched  to  the 
field  of  the  world's  debate.  Crusade  followed  after 
crusade.  Europeans  became  the  assailants  ;  and  in- 
stead of  extending  their  territories,  the  Turks  could  not 
retain  the  conquests  they  had  won.  On  the  subdivision 
of  their  empire  into  four  sultanies,  their  victorious  ca- 
reer was  not  long  unchallenged,  but  speedily  retarded 
and  restrained.  The  Lesser  Asia  and  Syria  again  be- 
came fields  of  battle,  but  with  foreign  foes.  From  these 
countries,  formerly  overflowed  by  them,  the  Turks  were 
repelled.  The  Crusaders  from  the  west  and  the  Fatim- 
ites  on  the  south  won  back  the  countries  which  the 
Turks  had  conquered  {a  land  brought  back  from  the 
sword),  and  the  original  region  of  their  conquest  on  the 
banks  and  borders  of  the  Euphrates  became  the  disputed 


234  TREATISE    ON 

seats  of  their  dominion,  and  was  partly  reft  from  them 
by  the  Franks. — The  Turks  for  a  long  period  were 
thus  restrained  and  hound.  Though  they  came  hke  a 
whirlwind  so  soon  as  their  time  of  preparation  began, 
yet  their  triumph  was  broken  ;  the  first  of  their  dynasties 
was  dissolved — they  seemed  to  be  fitted  for  slaughter, 
rather  than  prepared  to  slay. — The  Crusaders  from  the 
farthest  west,  with  incredible  loss  of  treasure  and  of 
blood,  forced  back  the  Turks  to  the  regions  where  their 
conquests  began:  and  the  Moguls  from  the  farthest 
east  took  up  the  task  of  repressing  them."*  The  identity 
of  this  terrific  expedition  with  that  of  the  Gog  and  Ma- 
gog of  the  Apocalypse  is  still  farther  confirmed  by  the 
parallel  phraseology  in  which  both  of  them  are  an- 
nounced. Thus  in  the  one  it  is  said, '  Thou  shalt  ascend 
{u¥u^):o-vi),  and  come  like  a  storm,'  <fec.  and  in  the  other, 

*  And  they  went  up  («ve/3;}c-«v)  on  the  breadth  of  the  earth 
(land),  and  compassed  the  camp  of  the  saints  about,' 
<fec.  The  word  uve^tjo-eiv,  ascended,  is  peculiar  to  mili- 
tary expeditions,  from  the  fact  that  as  citadels,  towns, 
and  fortresses  are  usually  situated  upon  mountains  and 
high  places,  they  could  only  be  attacked  by  the  besiegers 
first  ascending  to  or  towards  them.  Thus  we  find  the 
word  employed  1  Kings  20.  1.  'And  Ben-hadad  the 
king  of  Syria  gathered  all  his^  host  together,  and  he 
went  up  (^un^nTif)  and  besieged  Samaria.'     Judg.  1.  1. 

*  The  children  of  Israel  asked  the  Lord,  saying,  Who 
shall  go  up  [ecvoi^tiirsrxi)  for  US  against  the  Canaanites 
to  fight  against  them?'     2  Kings  18.  25.  'Am  I  now 

*  Keith's  Signs  of  the  Times,  vol.  i.  p.  207.  309, 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  233 

•come  up  {an^tii^it)  without  the  Lord  against  this  place 
to  destroy  it?  The  Lord  said  to  me,  Go  up  {ctvx(iii6t) 
against  this  land  and  destroy  it.'  So  in  numerous  other 
instances.  Indeed,  in  the  most  classic  authors  of  Greece, 
the  proper  rendering  of  AvotjixTi^  is  expedition,  and  no 
scholar  is  ignorant  of  the  fact,  that  this  is  the  very  title 
which  Xenophon  has  given  to  the  expedition  of  the 
younger  Cyrus  against  his  brother.*  We  are  led,  there- 
fore, to  the  conclusion,  that  the  predicted  assault  of  Gog 
and  Magog,  whether  by  Ezekiel  or  by  John,  was  to  be 
strictly  a  military  invasion,  and  consequently  that  the 
power  thus  denommated  was  to  be  a  political,  and  not  a 
spiritual  power,  as  some  have  maintained. — Passing 
over  several  intermediate  verses  we  come  to  the 
following  r — 

V.  17.  "Thus  saith  the  Lord  God;  Art  thou  he  of 
whom  I  have  spoken  in  old  time  by  my  servants  the 
prophets  of  Israel,  which  prophesied  in  those  days 
many  years,  that  I  would  bring  thee  against  them  ?" 
The  language  here  is  very  remarkable.  It  may  be  said 
to  afford  a  striking  instance  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 

*  The  same  remark  appHes  to  the  original  word  UiKloiaav, 
rendered  '  compassed  about.'  This  also  is  a  military  phrase  oc- 
curring in  relation  to  warlike  invasions,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
following  passages  ;  Luke  21.  20.  '  And  when  ye  shall  see 
Jerusalem  compassed  {kvk\ovh(v7}v)  with  armies.'  Heb.  11.  39. 
*  By  faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down,  after  they  were  com- 
passed about  (KVK\o}divra)  seven  days.'  Thus  also  Eccl.  9.  14. 
'  And  there  came  a  great  king  against  it,  and  besieged  it  {xvKXddf 
avTT/v).'  Is.  29.  3.  'And  I  will  camp  against  thee  rou?id  about 
(wKXuffu)),  and  will  lay  siege  against  thee.' 


230  TREATISE    ON 

spirit  of  prophecy.  By  a  bold  and  beautiful  stroke  of 
the  license  of  inspiration,  the  entire  lapse  of  the  inter- 
vening centuries  between  the  utterance  of  the  predic- 
tion and  the  period  of  its  accomplishment,  is  represented 
as  having  been  passed  over,  and  the  Most  High  is  in- 
troduced just  at  the  crisis  of  the  fulfilment,  while  the 
hostile  legions  are  mustering  their  dread  array,  while 
the  blast  of  the  martial  trumpet  is  congregating  the 
countless  hosts  from  the  four  corners  of  the  earth ;  and 
is  made  to  apostrophise  and  interrogate  them  in  the 
manner  here  described.  As  though  the  divine  mind  it- 
self were  impressed  with  a  momentary  emotion  of 
wonder  at  the  perfect  accomplishment  of  his  own  pre- 
diction, he  asks,  as  the  darkening  cloud  of  nations 
moves  onward,  whether  indeed  he  now  beheld  the  very 
power  advancing  to  the  very  work,  which  he  had  ages 
before,  by  his  prophets  Ezekiel,  and  Daniel,  and  others, 
so  clearly  and  unequivocally  foretold?  The  highest 
flight  of  the  genius  of  classic  poesy  may  be  challenged 
to  exhibit  a  strain  of  grandeur  and  sublimity  like  this. 
But  mere  rhetorical  effect  is  never  the  ultimate  scope  of 
the  spirit  of  inspiration.  Its  revelations  are  made  to 
minister  to  the  understanding  rather  than  to  the  taste, 
though  the  word  of  truth  may  occasionally  flash  forth  a 
demonstration  that  it  is  rich  even  where  it  is  confessedly 
poor.  This  striking  apostrophe  to  Gog  and  Magog  is 
but  as  the  questioning  of  the  criminal  before  his  doom 
is  pronounced.  The  verses  immediately  ensuing  are 
big  with  the  burden  of  destiny.  "  I  will  call  for  a 
sword  against  him  throughout  all  my  mountains  (chris- 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  237 

Uan  kingdoms),  saith  the  Lord  God  :  every  man's  sword 
shall  be  against  his  brother."  But  in  order  to  display- 
more  clearly  the  remarkable  accordance  between  the 
main  features  of  the  two  prophecies,  we  shall  present 
them,  side  by  side,  in  a  tabelated  view,  to  the  eye  of  the 
reader. 


Rev.  ch.  xx.  Ezek.  ch.  xxxviii.  ix. 

Soil  of  man,  set  thy  face  againsl 
Gog,  the  land  of  Magog. 

I  will  bring  thee  forth,  and  all  thine 
army,  horses  and  horsemen,— even  a 

And  when  the  thousand  years  are    ff '' ^"3^"^  "^'^^  '"''^'''^'  "'^ "' 
expired,  Satan  shall  be  loosed  out  of  his    ^^;"»  handhng  swords  : 
pjjg^jj,  Persia,  Ethiopia,  and   Libya,  with 

And  shall  go  out  to  deceive  the  na-  '^'"™  •~^°'"''  ^"^  ^"  ^'^  ^^"^^ '  '^^ 
lions  which  are  in  the  four  quarters  of  ,^^"''  ''^Tr^''.  ""^'^^  "'?  '^"''^■ 
the  earth,  Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather    ''''\  ^"'^  ^'\  ^''  ^'"'^' '   ^"*^  ""^"^ 


them  to  battle ;  the  numbpr  of  whom 


people  with  thee. 


is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea.  ^^^^  ""^"^  ^^^'^  ^^''^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^'»- 

ited :    in  the  latter  years  thou  shalt 

come  into  the  land. 

Thou  Shalt  ascend  and  come  like  a 

storm,  thou  shalt  be  like  a  cloud  to 

cover  the  land,  thou,  and  all  thy  bands, 

and  many  people  with  thee. 


And  thou  shalt  come  from  thy  place 

out  of  the  north  parts,  thou ,  and  many 

people  with  thee,  all  of  them  sitting 

upon  horses,  a  great  company,  and  a 

mighty  army : 

And  they  went  up  on  the  breadth  of       And  thou  shalt  come  up  against  my 

the  earth,  and  compassed  the  camp  of   people  of  Israel,  as  a  cloud  to  cover  the 

the  saints  about,  and  the  beloved  city:    land;  it  shall  be  in  the  latter  days, 

and  I  will  bring  thee  against  my  land 
that  the  people  may  know  me,  when  I 
shall  be  satisfied  in  thee,  O  Gog,  before 
their  eyes. 


2i8  TREATISE    ai« 

And  I  will  plead  against  him  with 
pestilence  and  with  blood;  and  I  will 
rain  upon  him,  and  upon  his  bands, 
and  upon  the  many  people  that  are 
with  him,  an  overflowing  rain,  and 
great  hailstones,  fire,  and  brimstone. 

And  I  will  send  a  fire  on  Magog,  and 
among  them  that  dwell  carelessly  in 
And  fire  came  down  from  God  out  of  ^^^^  jgi^g  .  ^^^  ^^ey  shall  know  that  I 
heaven  and  devoured  them.  ^^  t^g  Lord. 

These  shall  fall  upon  the  mountains 
of  Israel,  thou,  and  all  thy  bands,  and 
the  people  that  is  with  thee ;  I  will 
give  thee  unto  the  ravenous  birds  of 
every  sort,  and  to  the  beasts  of  the  field 
to  be  devoured. 

The  doom  of  the  invading  power  is  expressed  in 
strong  and  highly  wrought,  but  figurative  language,  im- 
plying that  divine  judgments  should  be  superadded  to 
human  reverses  in  effecting  its  utter  overthrow.  The 
devouring  '  fire,'  mentioned  by  the  latter  prophet,  which 
was  to  '  come  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,'  and  do 
the  work  of  his  wrath,  is  but  another  name  for  the  di- 
versified judgments  of  blood,  pestilence,  hail,  fire,  and 
brimstone,  described  by  Ezekiel.  Where  the  one  writer 
is  full,  the  other  is  brief;  according  to  the  uniform  analogy 
of  the  scriptures.  That  the  prediction  should  be  in  a 
great  measure  Zi^cra%  fulfilled,  we  have  no  hesitation  in 
admitting;  but  that  'fire'  is  the  symbolic  term  for  divine  in- 
flictions in  general  is  clear  from  the  usage  of  the  prophets 
and  psalmists  in  instances  innumerable  :  thus,  Ps.  50.  3. 
*  Our  God  shall  come,  and  shall  not  keep  silence :  a 
Jire  shall  devour  before  him,  and  it  shall  be  very  tempes- 
tuous round  about  him,'  i.  e.  he  shall  manifest  his  pre- 
sence by  tremendous  judgments.  To  the  same  effect, 
Ps.  97.  3.  *  AJire  goeth  before  him  and  burneth  up  his 


THE    MILLENNIUM. 


239 


enemies  round  about.'  Ps.  78.  21.  '  Therefore  the  Lord 
heard  this  and  was  wroth  :  so  a^re  was  kindled  against 
Jacob,  and  anger  also  came  up  against  Israel.*  Is.  9.  19. 
*  Through  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  the  land  is 
darkened,  and  the  people  shall  be  as  the  fuel  of  the 
fire ;  no  man  shall  spare  his  brother.'  Here  the  '  fire* 
was  the  destruction  of  every  one  by  the  hand  of  his 
brother.  Is.  66.  15.  *  For  behold,  the  Lord  will  come 
wiih^re,  and  with  his  chariots  like  a  whirlwind,  to  ren- 
der his  anger  with  fury,  and  his  rebukes  with  flames  of 
fire.^  Ezek.  21.  31,  32.  'And  I  will  pour  out  mine  in- 
dignation upon  thee,  I  will  blow  against  thee  in  the^re 
of  my  wrath,  and  deliver  thee  into  the  hand  of  brutish 
men,  and  skilful  to  destroy.  Thou  shalt  be  fuel  for  the 
fire.^  Lam.  4.  11.  *  The  Lord  hath  kindled  2,  fire  in 
Zion,  and  it  hath  devoured  the  foundations  thereof.' 
Hos.  8.  14.  *For'Israel  hath  forgotten  his  Maker  and 
buildeth  temples ;  but  I  will  send  ^fire  upon  his  cities, 
and  it  shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof.'  The  prevailing 
import  of  the  term  '  fire'  in  all  these  instances  is  that  of 
calamities  and  judgments  inflicted  providentially  by  tlie 
avenging  hand  of  God.  And  such  we  doubt  not  is  its 
genuine  sense  in  the  passage  before  us.  The  burden 
of  the  oracle  is,  that  Gog  and  Magog,  notwithstanding 
the  strength  and  terror  of  their  forces,  their  high  purpose 
of  conquest  and  spoil,  and  their  unwavering  confidence 
of  success,  should  be  confronted,  discomfited,  and  de- 
stroyed by  the  direct  visitation  of  the  Almighty  arm. 

But  here  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  there  is  no  neces- 
sity of  understanding  the  language  as  implying  a  sud- 
den destruction.     "  They  compassed  the  camp  of  the 


240  TREATISE    ON 

saints  about  and  the  beloved  city  :  and  fire  came  down 
from  God  out  of  heaven,  and  devoured  them."  The 
import  of  this  declaration  is,  that  the  besieging  power 
should  be  gradually  wasted  away  in  the  progress  of 
time  by  a  succession  of  calamitous  events,  so  marked  in 
their  character,  and  so  desolating  in  their  effects,  as  to 
refer  themselves  unequivocally  to  their  true  source  in  the 
judicial  counsels  of  Heaven.  "The  stars  in  their 
courses  fought  against  Sisera."  The  elements  were  to 
he  commissioned  as  the  ministers  of  wrath  to  execute 
the  penal  will  of  Jehovah.  Plagues  and  pestilences 
were  to  poison  the  atmosphere,  ponderous  hailstones 
were  to  be  engendered  in  the  regions  of  the  clouds,  ruin- 
ous conflagrations  were  to  turn  villages  and  cities  to 
ashes,  and  scenes  of  civil  discord  and  blood  were  to 
complete  the  work  of  extirpation.  But  in  the  nature  of 
things,  without  the  intervention  of  a  continuous  series  of 
miracles,  such  a  result  could  not  be  brought  about  in  a 
day  or  a  year.  Sufficient  time  must  be  allowed  for  the 
operation  of  those  second  causes  which  were  to  be  en- 
listed in  its  production.  By  the  very  structure  of  the 
prophetic  style,  future  events,  which  are  gradual  and 
successive  in  their  occurrence,  must  be  represented  by 
symbols  derived  from  objects  that  are  visible  at  one 
view,  or  embraced  in  a  single  glance  of  the  eye,  so  that 
the  accident  of  time  is  always  to  be  a  matter  of  mental 
allowance  on  the  part  of  the  reader.  What  particular 
period  of  time,  or  whether  any  definite  portion  at  all,  is 
to  enter  into  the  account,  is  to  be  determined  by  other 
circumstances.  But  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that 
a  train  of  events  covering  an  extended  tract  of  ages  ''9 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  241 

often  represented  by  a  set  of  symbolical  actions  which 
may  occupy  in  visionary  display  but  the  space  of  an  in- 
stant. As  in  an  historical  painting,  though  a  scene  may 
be  portrayed,  the  incidents  of  which,  in  actual  occur- 
rence, were  separated  by  some  little  intervals  of  time, 
yet  from  the  nature  of  pictorial  representation,  they  are 
exhibited  simultaneously,  being  all  concentrated  into  one 
single  moment  of  time,  or  a  crisis  which  has  no  respect 
to  duration.  The  necessary  attribute  of  time  has  to  be 
supplied  by  the  mind  of  the  spectator.  So  in  a  pro- 
phetical vision.  Pharaoh,  for  instance,  beheld  in  his 
dream  the  seven  fat  kine  emerging  from  the  river,  and 
then  the  seven  lean  kine  by  whom  the  former  were  de- 
voured, and  all  this  within  the  brief  space  of  time  in 
which  the  literal  action  might  be  supposed  to  have  been 
accomplished,  and  yet  we  learn  from  Joseph's  interpre- 
tation that  the  period  actually  denoted  by  the  imagery 
was  a  period  of  no  less  than  fourteen  years.  In  like 
manner,  when  it  is  said  in  a  former  vision  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, that  *  to  the  woman  were  given  two  wings  of  a 
great  eagle,  that  she  might  fly  into  the  wilderness,'  an 
event  is  denoted  which  occupied  a  great  many  years  in 
the  accomplishment.  So  again, Rev.  17.  16.  'And  the 
ten  horns  which  thou  sawest  upon  the  beast,  these  shall 
hate  the  whore,  and  shall  make  her  desolate  and  naked, 
and  shall  eat  her  flesh,  and  burn  her  with  fire.'  By  this  is 
implied  a  gradual  impoverishment,  wasting,  and  destruc- 
tion. The  power  symbolized  by  the  profligate  woman 
was  in  process  of  time  to  become  an  object  of  detesta- 
tion to  its  former  adherents  and  auxiliaries,  its  treasures 
and  resources  despoiled,  and  every  species  of  indignity 
X2 


242  TREATISE  orr 

and  contempt,  violence  and  aggression,  to  be  exercised 
towards  it.  But  the  lapse  of  several  centuries  might 
scarcely  suffice  for  the  complete  fulfilment  of  the  pre- 
diction. It  is  in  fact  the  announcement  of  a  mighty  moral 
revolution,  involving  an  entire  change  of  public  opinion, 
and  a  consequent  reverse  of  conduct,  in  reference  to  a 
certain  system  of  ecclesiastical  despotism  which  had 
maintained  a  pernicious  ascendancy  over  the  minds  of 
men  for  a  long  course  of  ages.  Like  all  other  revolu- 
tions, therefore,  originating  in  principle,  it  would  require 
time,  and  a  longtime,  to  bring  it  about. 

But  to  return  to  the  vision  of  John.  We  have  stated 
that  the  Old  and  New  Testament  prophecies  under  con- 
sideration are  not  only  similar,  but  identical,  in  their 
scope  ;  that  the  Gog  and  Magog  of  Ezekiel  is  the  Gog 
and  Magog  of  the  Apocalypse  ;  that  the  denomination, 
v/hether  occurring  in  the  one  or  the  other,  points  to  no 
other  than  the  Turkish  power,  that  colossal  scourge  of 
Christendom,  which,  though  fast  waning  to  its  close,  is 
not  yet  destroyed  ;  from  which  it  follows,  by  necessary 
consequence,  that  the  threatened  destruction  of  this  for- 
midable host  by  fire  from  heaven  is  but  the  intimation 
of  the  doom  of  the  Moslem  dominion  ;  a  doom  to  be 
executed  not  by  a  sudden  blow,  but  by  a  gradual  pro- 
cess, like  the  drying  up  of  the  mystical  Euphrates,  a 
symbol  denoting  in  less  forcible  terms  precisely  the  same 
result  with  that  shadowed  forth  by  the  fiery  destruction 
of  Gog  and  Magog.  As  the  Turkish  invasion  is  denoted 
by  the  loosing  of  the  four  angels  that  were  bound  in  the 
river  Euphrates,  so  the  gradual  weakening,  wasting,  and 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  243 

final  extinction  of  that  despotism  is  represented  by  the 
drying  up  of  the  same  river. 

To  what  an  extent  this  prediction  respecting  the  grad- 
ual demolition  of  the  Turkish  power  has  hitherto  received 
an  accomplishment  accordant  with  the  explanation  now 
given  of  its  terms,  will  appear  from  the  following  re- 
marks of  an  enlightened  traveller,  made  in  1821.  "  The 
circumstance,"  says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Walsh,  chaplain  to 
the  British  ambassador  at  Constantinople,  "  most  strik- 
ing to  a  traveller  passing  through  Turkey,  is  its  depopu- 
lation.  Ruins  where  villages  had  been  built,  and  fal- 
lows where  land  had  been  cultivated,  are  frequently 
seen  with  no  living  thing  near  them.  This  effect  is  not 
so  visible  in  larger  towns,  though  the  cause  is  known  to 
operate  there  in  a  still  greater  degree.  Within  the  last 
twenty  years,  Constantinople  has  lost  more  than  half  its 
population.  Ttbo  conflagrations  happened  while  I  was 
in  Constantinople,  and  destroyed  fifteen  thousand  houses. 
The  Russian  and  Greek  wars  were  a  constant  drain  on 
the  janisaries  of  the  capital ;  the  silent  operation  of  the 
plague  is  continually  active,  though  not  always  alarm- 
ing ; — it  will  be  no  exaggeration  to  say,  that  within  the 
period  mentioned,  from  three  to  four  hundred  thousand 
persons  have  been  prematurely  swept  away  in  one  city 
in  Europe  by  causes  which  were  not  operating  in  any 
other — conflagration^  pestilence,  and  civil  commotion. 
The  Turks,  though  naturally  of  a  robust  and  vigorous 
constitution,  addict  themselves  to  such  habits  as  are 
very  unfavourable  to  population — the  births  do  little 
more  than  exceed  the  ordinary  deaths,  and  cannot  sup- 
ply the  waste  of  casualties.     The  surrounding  country 


244  TREATISE  ON 

is  therefore  constantly  drained  to  supply  this  waste  rn 
the  capital,  which  nevertheless  exhibits  districts  nearly 
depopulated.  If  we  suppose  these  causes  operate  more 
or  less  in  every  part  of  the  Turkish  empire,  it  will  not 
be  too  much  to  say,  that  there  is  more  of  human  life 
wasted,  and  less  supplied,  than  in  any  other  country. 
We  see  every  day  life  going  out  in  the  fairest  portion  of 
Europe ;  and  the  human  race  threatened  with  extinction 
in  a  soil  and  climate  capable  of  supporting  the  most 
abundant  population."* 

*  Walsh's  Narrative,  pp.  22-24. 


The  following  is  extracted  from  thei  London  Record  news- 
paper of  Nov.  14,  1831  :— 

"  Constantinople^  Oct.  10. — On  the  5th  inst.  a  natural  phe- 
nomenon, such  as  few  persons  remember,  and  the  effects  of 
which  have  been  most  destructive,  filled  with  terror  the  inhab- 
itants of  this  country  ;  who  are  at  the  same  time  suffering 
under  all  kinds  of  evils.  After  an  uncommonly  sultry  night, 
threatening  clouds  arose,  about  six  in  the  morning,  in  the  hori- 
zon to  the  south-west,  and  a  noise  between  thunder  and  tem- 
pest, and  yet  not  to  be  compared  with  either,  increased  every 
moment ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital,  roused  from  their 
sleep,  awaited  with  anxious  expectation  the  issue  of  this  threat- 
ening phenomenon.  Their  uncertainty  was  not  of  long  dura- 
tion :  lumps  of  ice,  as  large  as  a  man's  foot,  falling,  first  singly 
and  then  like  a  thick  shower  of  stones,  which  destroyed  every 
thing  that  they  came  in  contact  with.  The  oldest  persons  do 
not  remember  ever  to  have  seen  such  hailstones.  Some  were 
picked  up,  half  an  hour  afterwards,  which  weighed  above  a 
pound.  This  dreadful  storm  passed  over  Constantinople,  and 
along  the  Bosphorus,  over  Therapis,  Bujukden,  and  Belgrade  : 
and  the  fairest,  nay,  the  only  hope  of  this  beautiful  and  fertile 
tract,  the  vintage,  just  commenced,  was  destroyed  in  a  day. 
Animals  of  all  kinds,  and  even  some  persons,  are  said  to  Uave 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  245 

This  general  explanation  will  afford  an  adequate  key 
to  all  the  minor  particulars  of  the  emblematic  scenery. 
They  are  said  to  have  *  compassed  the  camp  of  the 
saints  about  and  the  beloved  city.'  The  parallel  ex- 
pression in  Ezekiel  is, '  And  thou  shalt  come  up  against 
my  people  of  Israel,  as  a  cloud  to  cover  the  land.'  The 
phraseology  of  the  one  prophet  is  a  clew  to  that  of  the 
other.  The  '  camp  of  the  saints'  beleaguered  by  the 
multitudinous  armies  of  Gog  and  Magog  is  equivalent 
to  the  '  people  of  Israel'  surrounded  by  the  myriads  of 
horsemen  in  the  former  prophet.  But  we  have  already 
seen  that '  Israel'  is  the  prophetic  designation  of  Chris- 
tians. The  land  of  Israel  is  the  territories  of  Chris- 
tendom. And  the  body  of  Christian  nations  against 
whom  the  Turkish  tribes  were  to  array  themselves  are 
probably  described  as  an  *  encampment'  in  reference  to 
the  military  attittide  which  in  self-defence   they  have 

been  killed  ;  an  incalculable  number  are  wounded  ;  and  the 
damage  don©  to  the  houses  is  incalculable.  Besides  that, 
scarcely  a  window  has  escaped  in  all  the  country.  The  force 
of  the  fallen  masses  of  ice  was  so  great,  that  they  broke  to  atoms 
all  the  tiles  on  the  roofs,  and  scattered,  like  musket  balls,  planks 
half  an  inch  thick.  Since  that  day,  the  rain  has  not  ceased  to 
pour  down  in  torrents,  and,  from  the  slight  way  in  which  the 
houses  are  built,  almost  wholly  consisting  of  windows,  and  with 
very  flat  roofs,  that  have  nothing  to  keep  off  wet  besides  tiles, 
innumerable  families  are  not  much  more  comfortable  than  a 
bivouac.  If,  in  addition  to  this,  we  consider  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  Pera,  and  the  greal  Jives  of  Constantinople  itself, 
many  have  no  shelter  whatever  ;  and  recollect,  besides,  the 
plague  which  continues  to  spread,  and  the  cases  of  cholera^ 
which  still  occur ;  the  whole  together  makes  a  most  gloomy 
picture." 


246  TREATISE    ON 

been  for  ages  compelled  to  assume  and  maintain.  The 
appellation  '  saints/  uyM^  is  bestowed  on  the  ground  not 
so  much  of  personal  as  of  relative  ciiaracter,  pointing  to 
a  body  of  men  professing  the  true  religion,  and  thus  con- 
tradistinguished from  the  mass  of  the  infidel  followers 
of  the  False  Prophet.  The  '  beloved  city,'  if  not  equiv- 
alent to,  and  exegetical  of  the  foregoing  phrase, '  camp 
of  the  saints,'  may  be  supposed  to  refer  to  some  pre- 
eminently favored,  chosen,  and  precious  region  com- 
prised within  those  limits  which  were  environed  or  over- 
run by  the  desolating  squadrons  of  the  northern  Gog.  If 
so,  to  what  memorable  spot  does  the  finger  of  inspira- 
tion more  probably  point  than  to  the  land  of  Palestine, 
and  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  of  which  the  Psalmist  says, 
Ps.  87.  2.  '  The  Lord  loveth  the  gates  of  Zion  more 
than  all  the  dwellings  of  Jacob.'  "  But  the  most  in- 
teresting conquest,"  says  the  historian,  "  of  the  Selju- 
kian  Turks,  was  that  of  Jerusalem,  which  soon  became 
the  theatre  of  nations."*  In  the  parallel  prophecy  of 
Daniel,  eh.  11.  41.  it  is  said,  'He  shall  entei  also  into 
the  glorious  land,  and  many  countries  shall  be  over- 
thrown.' Again,  v.  45.  '  A.nd  he  shall  plant  the  taber- 
nacles of  his  palaces  between  the  seas  in  the  glorious 
holy  mountain;''  unequivocal  allusions  to  the  land  of 
Palestine.  To  say,  therefore,  that  the  '  beloved  city,' 
the  '  beauty  of  all  lands,'  '  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,' 
has  been  for  ages  in  the  condition  here  described,  in  a 
state  of  perpetual  siege,  hemmed  in  and  ruled  over  by 
the  ruthless  Turk,  is  but  affirming  the  most  obvious  fact 
of   history,   and    reciting  the  accomplishment   of   the 

*  Decline  and  Fall,  p.  1064 


THB    MILLENNIUM.  247 

Savior's  own'' words,  Luke  21.  24.  that  *  Jerusalem 
should  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times 
of  the  Gentiles  be  fulfilled.' 

Such  then  is  the  substance  of  our  exposition  of  the 
Gog  and  Magog  of  the  Apocalypse.  We  regard  the 
terms  as  simply  the  prophetical  designation  of  the  Turk- 
ish power,  constituting  the  woe  of  the  sixth  trumpet,  the 
period  of  which  coincides  with  the  closing  epoch  of  the 
Millennium.  And  we  have  endeavoured  to  show  that 
the  unquestionable  facts  of  history  go  to  confirm,  in  a 
striking  manner,  the  truth  of  this  position.  We  have 
also  adduced  evidence  to  prove  that  the  Spirit  of  inspira- 
tion, speaking  through  Ezekiel,  predicted,  more  than  a 
thousand  years  before,  the  rise,  irruption,  and  over- 
throw of  the  same  invading  power.  And  we  now  ob- 
serve that  it  is  in  this  latter  fact  that  we  find  a  clew  to 
the  phraseology  of  John,  Rev.  20.  3.  '  And  after  that  he 
must  {^ei)  be  loosed  a  little  season.'  The  necessity  here 
predicated  of  the  temporary  enlargement  of  Satan  is 
founded  upon  the  circumstance  that  such  an  event  is 
plainly  foretold  in  the  Old  Testament  oracles.  The 
punctual  fulfilment  of  these  ancient  predictions  required 
that  precisely  such  an  event  should  take  place.  This 
interpretation  is  supported  by  the  following  instances  of  a 
parallel  diction  in  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles.  Mat.  24. 
6.  '  And  when  ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars, 
see  that  ye  be  not  troubled  :  for  all  these  things  must 
(tht)  come  to  pass,  but  the  end  is  not  yet.'  They  must 
come  to  pass  because  they  were  predicted.  Mat.  26.  54. 
'  But  how  then  shall  the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled,  that  thus 
it  must  {hi)  be.'      Mark  8.  31.  'And  he  began  to  teach 


24s8  TREATISE    ON 

them,  that  the  Son  of  man  must  (^e/)  suffer  many  things, 
and  be  rejected  of  the  elders,'  &;c.  i.  e.  in  order  to  the 
verifying  of  the  predictions  of  Moses  and  the  prophets. 
Luke  23.  37.  '  For  I  say  unto  you  that  this  that  is 
written  must  [hi)  yet  be  accompHshed  in  me,  A.nd  he 
was  reckoned  among  the  transgressors  ;'  i.  e.  it  must  be 
accomplished  iecaw^e  it  was  written.  John  20.  9.  'For 
as  yet  they  knew  not  the  Scriptures,  that  he  must  [hi) 
rise  again  from  the  dead.'  Acts  17.  2.  3.  *  And  rea- 
soned with  them  out  of  the  Scriptures,  opening  and  al- 
leging that  Christ  must  needs  (shi)  have  suffered,  and 
risen  again  from  the  dead.'  Luke  24.  46.  'And  said 
unto  them,  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behoved  {eht) 
Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day.' 
Accordingly  it  will  be  found  to  hold  good  as  a  general 
remark,  that  wherever  the  New  Testament  writers  speak 
of  any  event  as  necessary  to  be  accomplished,  this  ne- 
cessity is  based  not  upon  the  secret^  but  upon  the  revealed 
will  of  the  Most  High,  as  disclosed  by  his  ancient  ser- 
vants the  prophets.  On  the  ground  therefore  of  long 
previous  annunciation,  it  was  necessary  that  Satan  should 
be  *  loosed  out  of  his  prison,  and  should  go  out  to  deceive 
the  nations  which  are  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth, 
Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them  together  to  battle.' 

But  here  it  may  be  asked,  how  the  expression  *  de- 
ceive' (?rA«tfyHc-<»/),  if  it  bear  the  sense  already  ascribed  to 
it  of  seducing  hy  means  of  religious  imposture,  can 
properly  be  applied  to  these  heathen  nations,  seeing 
that  they  were  already  deceived  from  the  very  fact  of 
their  being  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Dragon  prior  to 
their  issuing  forth  upon  this  fatal  expedition  ?     We  an- 


THE   MILLENNIUM^  249 

swer,  that  the  specific  end  of  his  *  deception'  on  this  oc- 
casion is  expressly  defined  by  the  words  of  the  prophet. 
E^eXeva-trxt  ^Xccv^rxi — c-vvayetye7v  etvrov^  ek  TroXsfA^v — 
He  shall  go  forth  to  deceive  them — to  gather  them  to- 
gether to  battle.  This  then  was  the  drift  of  his  delud- 
ing subtleties,  to  infatuate  their  minds  with  the  project  of 
a  grand  and  glorious  conquest  to  be  achieved  over 
Christendom,  in  consequence  of  which  they  should  mus- 
ter an  immense  armament,  and  go  forth  buoyant  with 
hope,  and  blustering  with  bravado,  to  the  momentous 
conflict.  "  The  enemy  said,  I  will  pursue,  I  will  over- 
take, I  will  divide  the  spoil ;  my  lust  shall  be  satisfied 
upon  them;  I  will  draw  the  sword,  my  hand  shall  destroy 
them."  This  was  the  precise  nature  of  the  *  deception' 
to  be  practised  upon  the  belligerent  legions  of  Gog  and 
Magog.  They  were  to  be  urged  on  by  the  delusive  pros- 
pect of  success  In  their  undertaking,  while  ultimate, 
remediless  ruin  awaited  them.  The  term  *  deceive,' 
therefore,  in  this  connexion  must,  by  the  exigentia  loci, 
be  interpreted  in  a  sense  somewhat  different  from  that 
assigned  to  it  above. 

The  only  point  which  now  remains  to  be  considered  is 
that  of  dates ;  and  this  is  a  point  requiring  a  very  close 
examination.  If  the  Dragon  were  not  to  be  released 
from  his  confinement  in  the  mystic  abyss  till  the  full 
expiration  of  the  thousand  years,  and  if  this  thousand 
years  be  dated  from  the  reign  of  Theodosius  or  shortly 
afterj-  that  is,  from  some  point  between  A.  D.  395  and 
A.  D.  450,  it  may  be  objected,  that  this  determination 
of  periods  will  by  no  means  tally  with  the  grand  epochs 
of  the  Turkish  history.  For  nothing  is  more  certain 
Y 


250  TREATISE    ON 

than  that  their  first  inroads  upon  the  territories  of  Chris* 
tendom  were  at  least  two  or  three  centuries  prior  to  the 
date  to  which  this  calculation  would  assign  them. 
"The  lords  of  a  great  part  of  Asia,  which  lies  between  the 
Indus  and  the  Bosphorus,  proceeded  originally  from  the 
nation  which  dwells  in  the  Khozzer  or  Khozzez  plains, 
at  the  north-east  of  the  Caspian  sea.  They  were  called 
Turks  or  Turkmans :  and  their  first  important  emi- 
gration took  place  in  the  tenth  century.  These  Tar- 
tars, like  most  others  of  their  nation  in  their  emigrations 
to  the  south,  embraced  the  Mohammedan  religion."* 
This  expedition  was  headed  by  Seljuk,  grandfather  of 
Togrol-Bec,  who  between  the  years  1038  and  1063  de- 
feated the  Gaznevides,  subjugated  Persia,  and  was 
solemnly  recognised  by  the  Caliph  of  Bagdad  as  the 
master  of  all  the  Mohammedan  states,  and  as  the 
vicegerent  of  the  Moslem  world.  His  nephew  Alp 
Arslan  succeeded  him  in  the  year  1063  :  and  at  the 
close  of  a  prosperous  reign,  "  the  fairest  parts  of  Asia 
were  subject  to  his  laws,  twelve  hundred  kings  or  chiefs 
stood  before  his  throne,  and  two  hundred  thousand  sol- 
diers marched  under  his  banners."  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Malek-Shah,  who  reigned  from  1072  to  the 
year  1093,  and  who  was  the  greatest  prince  of  his  age. 
"  Persia  was  his  ;  the  emirs  of  Syria  paid  their  sub- 
mission of  tribute  and  respect ;  and  daily  prayers  were 
offered  for  his  health  in  Mecca,  Medina,  Jerusalem,  Bag- 
dad, Rhei,  Ispahan,  Samarcand,  Bokhara,  and  Kashgar. 
But  the  greatness  and  unity  of  the  Turkish  empire  ex- 
pired in  the  person  of  Malek-Shah.     On  his  death  in 

*  Mills'  Hist,  of  Mohamm.  p.  233. 


J 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  251 

the  year  1092,  the  vast  fabric  fell  to  the  ground;  and, 
after  a  series  of  civil  wars,  four  dynasties,  contemporary 
and  not  successive,  were  formed :  namely,  that  of  Per- 
sia at  large  ;  that  of  Kerman,  a  province  of  Persia ; 
that  of  a  large  portion  of  Syria,  including  Aleppo  and 
Damascus  ;  and  that  of  Rhoum,  or  Asia  Minor." 

In  the  year  1240,  the  Ottoman  Turks,  who  dwelt 
originally  at  the  north  of  the  Caspian  sea  on  the  plains 
of  Kipjack  or  Cumania,  made  their  appearance  in  Ar- 
menia, Syria,  and  Asia  Minor.  "  Some  of  them  engaged 
in  the  service  of  Aladdin,  the  Seljuk  sultan  of  Iconium 
or  Rhoum :  and  it  was  not  beneath  the  dignity  of  their 
leader  Ortugrul  to  become  the  subject  and  soldier  of 
that  prince.  The  Seljuks  of  Iconium  and  the  Koras- 
mian  Tartars  became  one  people  :  in  history  they  were 
known  by  the  common  name  of  Ottoman  Turks :  and 
the  sword  and  sceptre  of  power  were  transferred  from 
the  sluggard  Seljukian  princes  to  their  ambitious  and 
enterprising  generals."* 

The  narrative  thus  briefly  recited  stands  almost  self- 
applied  to  the  events  announced  under  the  sixth  trumpet, 
which,  according  to  our  interpretation,  brings  the  Gog 
and  Magog  power  upon  the  prophetic  platform.  The 
four  angels  described  as  bound  in  the  reg-ions  borderinor 
on  the  river  Euphrates,  are  the  four  contemporary  sul- 
tanies,  or  dynasties,  into  which  the  empire  of  the  Sel- 
jukian Turks  was  divided  towards  the  close  of  the 
eleventh  century :  Persia,  Kerman,  Syria,  and  Rhoum* 
"  These  were  long  restrained  from  extending  their  con- 
quests beyond  what  may  be  geographically  termed  the 
*  Mills'  Hist,  of  Mohamm.  p.  133-26L 


252  TREATISE    OK 

Euphratean  regions,  partly  by  the  quadruple  division  of 
their  once  united  empire,  partly  by  the  revolutions  of 
Asia,  and  partly  by  the  instrumentality  of  the  Crusades. 
But  towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  four 
angels  on  the  river  Euphrates  were  forthwith  loosed 
in  the  persons  of  their  existing  representatives,  the 
united  Ottoman  and  Seljukian  Turks."* 

Now  as  the  thousand  years  of  the  Apocalypse  were 
not  completed  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the 
question  arises.  With  what  propriety,  consistently  with 
the  sacred  text,  can  Satan,  in  the  person  of  the  Ottoman 
or  Seljukian  Turks,  be  said  to  have  been  loosed  at  that 
time  ?  This  question  deserves  a  well-considered  reply. 
In  offering  a  solution  of  the  problem,  let  us  weigh  the 
genuine  import  of  the  original : — Keti  orm  reXeirSjj  r» 
XiMsi  hi].  Of  these  words  the  common  translation  is, 
'  And  when  the  thousand  years  are  expired ;'  understand- 
ing the  term  of  years  to  be  fully  completed.  But  a 
more  correct  rendering  we  apprehend  to  be,  '  And 
when  the  thousand  years  are  expiring^  or  draiving  tO' 
wards  a  close. ^  The  grammatical  structure  of  the  pas- 
sage does  not,  as  we  conceive,  imperiously  require  us  to 
understand  the  period  as  having  fully  elapsed.  The 
subjunctive  mode  in  Greek  having  no  future  tense,  but 
being  obliged  for  that  purpose  to  employ  the  aorists,  or 
indefinite  tenses,  is  often  used  in  connexion  with  the  ad- 
verb orotv,  to  denote  time  current  instead  of  time  complete. 
The  following  cases  of  a  strictly  parallel  phraseology 
will  redeem  our  proposed  version  from  the  charge  of 
being  arbitrarily  adopted,  merely  to.  serve  a  turn.     A  re- 

*  Fabeta*  S?wj.  Calend.  of  Proph.  vol  it  p.  415,. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  253 

markably  apposite  instance  is  afforded  in  a  former  part 
of  the  Revelation,  eh.  11.  7.,  where  the  war  or  prolonged 
hostility  of  the  Beast  against  the  Witnesses  is  mentioned. 
'And  when  they  shall  have  finished  their  testimony 
(Gr.  oTxv  reXeo-tuat  tjjv  /noi^Tv^iuv  avrm),  the  Beast,  thaJ 
ascendeth  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  shall  make  war 
against  them,  and  overcome  them.'  Grotius,  Mede, 
Whiston,  More,  Daubuz,  Lowman,  and  Newton  unani- 
mously agree  that  the  true  rendering  in  this  place  is, 
When  they  shall  be  Jinishing,  or  about  to  Jinish,  their 
testimony.  The  reason  of  it  is  plain ;  for  the  Beast 
was  not  to  defer  his  persecution  till  after  they  had  com- 
pleted their  testimony,  but  was  to  make  war  against 
them  during  the  time  that  they  were  actually  engaged  in 
it.  The  sense  therefore  is  plainly,  JVhile  they  shall  be 
Jinishing^  or  executing  their  testimony*  Again,  Mat.  5. 
11.'  Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  revile  you  and  per- 
secute you,'  (fee.  (Gr.  'drxv  ovsi^iaaffiv  vf^tui;  kxi  ^let/^aa^i)  ; 
i.  e.  not  when  men  shall  have  reviled   and  persecuted 

*  Daubuz,  after  rendering  the  original, — '  And  whilst  they  shall 
perform  their  testimony,^ — remarks  r  "  This,  is  the  right  meaning 
of  these  words,  as  Grotius,  More,  and  others,  even  Mede  him-^ 
self,  own.  For  the  word  rfXtw  may  signify  the  doing  any  thing 
in  order  to  its  perfection,  as  well  as  the  actual  finishing  of  it. 
So  fTTtrfXfo),  in  Heb.  9.  6.,  signifies  simply  to  accomplish,  without 
any  respect  to  the  end,  any  more  than  to  the  whole  service  :  and 
the  particle  d^av,  whilst,  suits  exactly  with  this  sense,  Matt.  5.  11  ; 
10.  19.  Now  the  sense  of  the  whole  requires  it  absolutely  ;  for 
the  power  of  the  Beast  is  to  make  war  against  them  during  all  the 
time  of  their  testimony,  and  that  power  in  Ch.  13.  5.,  is  said  ta 
be  42  months,  which  are  equal  to  the  1260  days  of  these  witnesses* 
prophesying.  Therefore  the  Beast  makes  war  upon  them  all  ths- 
time  whilst  they  perform  their  testimony.'''' — Dauhuz  Perpet.  Ccm,^ 
v.ent.  p.  514. 

Y2 


254  TREATISE    Oi<r 

you,  but  even  while  they  are  doing  it.  Mat.  10.  19. 
'  But  when  they  deliver  you  up  (Gr.  oTav  Tra^xh^actv  uf^ti) 
take  no  thought,'  &lc.  ;  i.  e.  when  they  are  delivering  you 
up.  So  also  1  Thess.  5.  3.  *  For  when  they  shall  say 
(oTttv  yct^  Xeyao-tv),  peace  and  safety ;  then  sudden  de- 
struction Cometh  upon  them ;'  i.  e.  while  they  shall  be 
saying.  Instances  of  the  same  usage  might  be  accumu- 
lated in  great  abundance,  from  profane  as  well  as  sacred 
writers,  but  the  cases  adduced  will  be  sufficient,  if  we 
mistake  not,  to  sustain  our  construction  of  the  passage^ 
We  rest  therefore  in  the  conclusion  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  intended  by  the  phraseology  of  the  text  to  signify  no 
more  than  that  while  the  thousand  years  'were  finishing,*^ 
or  verging  to  their  termination,  Satan,  in  the  person  of 
the  pagan  hordes  of  the  north,  should  be  released  from 
that  providential  restraint  to  which  he  had  been  so 
long  subjected,  and  should  renew  his  machinations 
and  cruelties  against  the  christianized  portions  of  the 
globe.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  one,  two,  or  three  cen- 
turies before  the  complete  consummation  of  the  millennial 
period  that  he  began  to  set  his  projects  on  foot.  But  in 
so  large  and  far-reaching  a  prophecy  as  that  before  us^ 
these  minor  fractions  of  time  are  not  regarded '  by  the 
spirit  of  inspiration.  The  predominant  scope  of  the 
oracle  is  merely  to  announce  in  general  terms  the  future 
irruption  and  hostile  assault  of  the  Turkish  power,  fol- 
lowed by  its  final  discomfiture  and  destruction.  The 
minute  specification  of  dates,  therefore,  is  not  a  matter 
of  prime  importance  in  the  unravelling  of  the  mysteries 
of  the  vision.  It  may  be  supposed  that  the  Turkish 
power,  although  it  commenced  its  career,  and  made  its 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  255 

incipient  conquests  one  or  two  centuries  prior  to  the  full 
expiration  of  the  Millennium,  yet  it  attained  its  acme 
about  the  time  of  its  close,  and  this  construction  will 
perhaps  answer  all  the  demands  of  the  text.  The  cap- 
ture of  Constantinople,  A.  D.  1453,  levelled  the  last 
bulwark  that  protected  the  Greek  empire  from  the  arms 
of  the  Ottomans,  and  the  probable  epoch  of  the  expiration 
of  the  thousand  years  of  the  Apocalypse,  was  signalized 
by  the  effectual  establishment  of  these  descendants  of 
the  ancient  Gog  and  Magog,  in  the  once  flourishing 
provinces  of  Europe  and  the  church.* 

From  that  time  forward  the  spirit  of  prophecy  has 
seen  fit  to  give  no  other  particular  intimations  of  the 
fate  and  fortunes  of  the  Turkish  power  than  what  is 
contained  in  the  brief  but  pregnant  declaration,  that 
"  fire  came  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  and  devoured 
them,"  denoting,  /is  we  have  already  hinted,  the  gradual 
wasting  away,  in  consequence  of  a  series  of  judicial 
visitations  of  heaven,  of  that  once  formidable  dominion, 
reared  by  the  prowess  of  the  scimitar,  and  cemented 
and  upheld  by  the  delusions  of  the  Koran.  The  same 
result  is  shadowed  out  with  equal  significancy  by  the 
symbol  of  the  drying  up  of  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates 
under  the  efiusion  of  the  sixth  vial,  indicating  the  decay 
and  exhausture  of  the  resources,  strength,  population, 

*  While  Constantinople  was  besieged  by  the  Turks,  some  of 
the  priests,  on  being  reproached  for  their  compliances  with  some 
of  the  superstitions  of  the  Latin  church,  replied  : — "  Have  pa- 
tience, till  God  shall  have  delivered  the  city /rom  the  great  dragon 
who  seeks  to  devour  us.  You  shall  then  perceive  whether  we  are 
truly  reconciled  with  the  Azymites.'* — Gibbon's  DecL  and  Fall,  p. 
1229. 


256  TREATISE  ON 

and  territory  of  the  empire  of  the  Moslems.  The 
process  in  our  own  day  is  still  going  on  with  signal  and 
uninterrupted  rapidity.  Scarcely  an  arrival  from  an 
European  port  but  brings  the  intelligence  of  another 
and  a  farther  stage  in  her  irretrievably  downward  career. 
Whether  it  be  by  the  ravages  of  the  cholera  or  the 
plague,  of  fire  or  tornadoes,  of  foreign  invasion  or  in- 
ternal revolt,  the  work  of  ruin  is  still  advancing.  Hosts 
of  evil  angels  seem  leagued  together  for  its  overthrow. 
Every  succeeding  report  is  a  report  of  disasters,  pro- 
claiming the  waning  glories  of  the  Crescent,  and  tolling 
afresh  the  knell  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Ottomans. 
"  The  spider  has  wove  his  web  in  the  imperial  palace, 
and  the  owl  hath  sung  her  watch-song  in  the  towers  of 
Afrasiab.-' 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  397 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CONCLUSION. 


Correct  ViewB  of  the  Millennium  attainable  only  from  a  right 
Interpretation  of  the  Prophetic  Symbols — Whatever  Diffi- 
culties attend  the  Theory  broached  in  the  present  Treatise, 
the  common  Doctrine  embarrassed  by  equal  or  greater — 
Some  of  them  stated — Hints  respecting  the  predicted  Con- 
flagration of  the  Heavens  and  the  Earih — True  Character  of 
the  Prophetic  Intimations  of  the  future  Prospects  of  the 
Church  and  the  World. 

The  foregoing  pages  have  been  devoted  to  the  state- 
ment and  confirmation  of  that  View  of  the  Apocalyptic 
Millennium  whith,  and  which  only,  we  deem  to  be 
supported  by  a  fair  and  unforced  exegesis  of  the  sacred 
text.  This  view,  we  are  well  aware,  is  widely  at  va- 
riance with  the  prevailing  sentiments  of  the  Christian 
world  in  relation  to  the  grand  period  thus  denominated. 
We  have  arrayed  ourselves  in  opposition  to  the  popular 
theory,  which  regards  the  Millennium  as  yet  future,  and 
in  so  doing  are  conscious  of  having  incurred  all  that 
responsibility,  not  to  say  odium,  which  attaches  to  the 
attempt  to  assail  and  undermine  a  long-established  and 
seldom-questioned  opinion.  But  that  we  have  not  en- 
listed unadvisedly  in  the  defence  of  the  position  which 
the  reader  will  find  advocated,  however  feebly,  in  the 
preceding  chapters,  we  trust  will  be  evident  from  the 
careful,  candid,  and  plausible,  if  not  conclusive,  train 


258  TREATISE    ON 

of  investigation  into  which  we  have  entered.  It  h 
hoped  that  the  show  of  sound  reasoning,  sustained  by 
philological  and  historical  induction,  will  redeem  the 
theory  from  the  charge  of  wild  extravagance,  though  it 
should  fail  to  win  an  unwavering  assent. 

Of  one  thing,  at  least,  we  may  venture  to  assure  our- 
selves without  hesitation  ;  that  is,  that  the  genuine  doc- 
trine of  the  Millennium,  if  we  have  not  succeeded  in 
establishing  it,  must  be  determined,  whenever  it  shall 
be  done,  by  a  method  similar  to  that  adopted  in  the 
present  work.  The  import  of  the  prophetic  symbols 
must  be  definitively  settled  before  a  single  step  can  be 
taken  towards  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  great  prob- 
lem. The  notion  of  a  future  era  of  blessedness  ap- 
pointed in  the  benignity  of  the  Divine  counsels  to  dawn 
upon  our  world  in  the  latter  ages  of  its  duration,  is 
indeed  one  peculiarly  congenial  to  the  human  mind,  and 
in  support  of  which  many  plausible  reasons  may  be 
adduced  from  the  general  hints  and  intimations  dispersed 
through  the  oracles  of  the  prophets.  And  we  doubt 
not  that  such  an  expectation  receives  the  decided  coun- 
tenance of  an  enlightened  reason,  apart  from  the  ex- 
press assurances  of  Scripture.  But  as  to  the  anticipa- 
tion of  a  period  so  strictly  defined  and  so  characteris- 
tically marked  as  the  Millennium  of  the  Apocalypse,  an 
intelligent  anticipation  needs  to  be  based  upon  grounds 
less  vague  and  equivocal.  The  precise  meaning  of 
the  inspired  annunciations  must  be  understood.  Faith, 
hope,  and  charity  may  combine  to  excite  the  sanguine 
expectation  of  a  blissful  state  of  the  world,  and  an  ar- 
clent  fancy  may  be  invoked  to  throw  the  hues  of  the 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  259 

primitive  paradise  over  the  scene ;  when  at  the  same  time, 
if  brought  to  the  test  of  rigid  exegesis,  it  may  be  no- 
thing more  than  a  brilliant  illusion,  destined  to  be  ruth- 
lessly dispelled  by  the  onward  course  of  time  and  Pro- 
vidence. 

The  present  belongs  to  man,  the  future  to  God.  As 
coming  events  are  in  themselves  utterly  veiled  from 
human  foresight,  the  prospects  of  the  church  and  the 
world  are  matters  of  pure  revelation.  They  can  enter  no 
farther  into  the  scope  of  our  limited  vision  than  as  the 
curtain  of  concealment  is  lifted  from  before  them  by 
the  hand  of  inspiration.  Now,  although  the  predictions 
of  holy  writ  are  designed  to  acquaint  us  in  great  meas- 
ure with  the  arcana  of  futurity,  yet  these  predictions 
are  delivered  in  a  style  dark  and  enigmatical,  without 
the  proper  key  to  which  they  still  remain  enveloped  in 
impenetrable  obscftrity.  The  language  of  symbols  is 
the  vehicle  of  prophecy.  If  we  would  explore  the 
labyrinth,  we  must  guide  our  footsteps  by  the  only  clew 
which  will  conduct  us  through  its  recesses.  As  it  re- 
spects, then,  the  popular  doctrine  of  a  future  Millen* 
nium,  if  we  would  not  embrace  a  shadow  for  a  sub- 
stance, the  very  first  question  to  be  resolved  is.  What  is 
the  genuine  import  of  the  figurative  and  symbolical 
terms  in  which  this  period  is  announced,  and  by  which 
it  is  described  ?  Nothing  that  can  properly  be  called 
knowledge  is  attainable  on  the  subject  without  settling 
this  matter  in  the  outset.  It  is  accordingly  in  this  de- 
partment of  our  inquiry  that  we  have  laid  out  *  the 
beginning  of  our  strength  ;*  and  unless  the  truth  and 
justice  of  our  symbolical  interpretations  be  first  disproved, 


260  TREATISE    ON 

we  have  little  fear  that  our  main  position  can  be  ovef^ 
thrown.  Here  then  we  intrench  ourselves  ;  behind  this 
munition  we  take  refuge  from  the  missiles  of  prejudice, 
and  the  shafts  of  imputed  heresy. 

Now  if  it  may  be  fairly  assumed  that  we  have,  in  our 
foregoing  discussions,  established  the  grand  position, 
that  the  Millennium.,  strictly  so  called,  is  past,  we  beg 
leave  to  request,  that  no  inferential  or  hypothetical  diffi- 
culties arising  from  the  apprehended  relation  of  this  to 
other  doctrines  of  the  Scriptures  may  be  allowed  to 
invalidate  or  vacate  the  above  conclusion.  It  may  per- 
haps be  said  that,  as  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the 
day  of  judgment,  the  second  coming  of  Christ,  and  the 
end  of  the  world,  are,  at  least,  in  the  prevailing  con- 
sent of  Christians,  intimately  associated  with  the  close 
of  the  Millennium,  if  that  period  be  already  past,  inex- 
tricable confusion  rests  upon  all  the  cognate  doctrines 
now  mentioned.  The  mass  of  the  Christian  world  is, 
on  this  supposition,  utterly  thrown  out  of  its  reckon- 
ings, and  is  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  vessel  in  mid- 
ocean  which  has  lost  its  charts,  journals,  and  instru- 
ments, and  which  a  clouded  sky  in  addition  prevents 
from  taking  any  kind  of  celestial  observation.  Its 
course  and  bearings,  therefore,  its  distances  and  dangers, 
are  all  matters  of  vague  conjecture  and  fearful  anxiety. 

In  answer  to  this,  we  have  only  to  say,  that  we  can- 
not see  the  justice  of  being  held  responsible  for  conse- 
quences having  relation  to  other  truths,  provided  our 
main  point,  the  proof  of  which  is  conducted  independ- 
ently of  all  correlate  tenets,  is  solidly  and  conclusively 
made  out.     It  must  be  obvious  to  the  reader  that  we 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  261 

have  proposed  to  ourselves  a  single  object  of  inquiry 
and  proof,  viz.  that  the  Millennium  of  John  is  past. 
This  position  we  have  treated  as  capable  of  being  es- 
tablished upon  independent  grounds,  by  a  train  of  argu- 
ment having  no  respect  to  any  kindred  dogmas  what- 
ever. If  we  have  succeeded  in  our  attempt,  if  the  de- 
monstration be  in  itself  sound,  the  conclusion  must  stand, 
however  it  may  be  impugned  on  the  ground  of  being  at 
variance  with  other  commonly-received  articles  of  faith. 
For  any  such  discrepancy  the  conclusion  cannot  be 
deemed  responsible,  nor  does  it  fairly  devolve  upon  us 
to  show  how  the  result  we  have  reached  is  to  be  har- 
monized with  those  points  of  revelation  with  which  it  is 
supposed  to  be  in  conflict.  Leaving  this  task,  there- 
fore, to  those  who  think  it  needful  to  be  accomplished. 
we  challenge  a  rigid  scrutiny  to  our  grand  position, 
and  to  the  chain  of  proofs  upon  which  it  rests.  Let  it 
stand  or  fall  upon  its  own  merits.  And  let  him  who 
shall  take  up  the  gage,  be  reminded,  that  if  he  denies 
the  signification  which  we  have  assigned  to  the  pro- 
phetic symbols,  it  devolves  upon  him  to  state  the  rea- 
sons of  his  dissent,  and  to  show  what  they  do  mean. 

But  on  the  score  of  difficulties,  whatever  may  be 
urged  against  the  dominant  theory  of  the  present  trea- 
tise, it  may  be  suggested,  that  the  common  hypothesifi 
of  the  Millennium  is  by  no  means  exempt  from  them. 
It  is  not  a  very  unusual  occurrence,  when  any  new 
view  of  a  theological  or  scriptural  subject  is  broached, 
to  array  against  it  a  host  of  objections,  and  to  insist  upon 
the  formidable  difficulties  with  which  it  is  encumbered, 
as  if  the  old  view  were  free  from  all  exceptions,  and 
Z 


262  TREATISE    ON 

Stood  forth  in  self-evident  truth,  while  in  fact  it  was  the 
difficulties  attendant  upon  the  popular  belief  which 
gave  rise  to  the  innovation.  Thus  a  warm  advocate 
for  slavery  is  fully  alive  to  the  difficulties  and  dangers 
of  any  new  scheme  of  emancipation,  and  is  fertile  of 
arguments  against  them,  while  he  entirely  loses  sight 
of  the  perils  growing  out  of  the  continuance  of  the 
evil.  It  is  certain  that  there  are  points  in  the  popular 
theory  of  the  Millennium  which  do  not  readily  accord 
with  the  descriptions  of  the  same  period  as  contained 
in  other  portions  of  the  Scriptures.  According  to  the 
prevalent  opinion,  the  duration  of  what  is  termed  *  the 
latter  day  glory'  is  to  be  limited  to  a  definite  term  of 
years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  a  general  and  stu- 
pendous apostasy  is  to  ensue,  to  be  arrested  only  by 
the  sudden  appearance  of  the  Son  of  God  throned  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  coming  to  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead.  Upon  this  supposition,  a  dark  and  por- 
tentous cloud,  visible  from  the  commencement  of  the 
contemplated  period,  will  approach  nearer  and  nearer, 
and  gathering  blackness  in  its  progress,  will  eventually 
surround  the  camp  of  the  saints.  Not  an  eye  but  must 
behold  the  innumerable  forces  of  an  unknown  enemy, 
rising  up  as  from  a  temporary  slumber,  like  giants  re- 
freshed, marshalling  their  appalling  array,  and  falling 
into  their  countless  ranks.  Now  we  cannot  but  regard 
this  construction  as  at  variance  with  the  general  drift  of 
the  predictions  announcing  the  final  prosperity  and 
glory  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  Turning  to  the 
sublime  strains  of  Isaiah,  while  his  closing  chapters 
abound  with  the  most  cheering  intimations  of  a  state  of 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  263 

unprecedented  blessedness,  to  be  enjoyed  by  earth's 
later  generations,  we  find  no  specification  of  lime  by 
which  this  golden  era  is  to  be  circumscribed^  So  also 
in  the  more  precise  and  chronological  prophecy  of 
Daniel,  where,  if  anywhere,  we  are  to  look  for  an 
exact  determination  of  times  and  seasons,  the  final  es- 
tablishment and  triumphs  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Mes- 
siah are  expressly  foretold  without  being  limited  to  any 
special  term  of  years.  In  the  inspired  interpretation 
of  that  part  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  in  which  a 
stone  was  seen  to  be  cut  out  without  hands,  and  after 
smiting,  and  prostrating,  and  dashing  to  pieces  the  co- 
lossal image  of  the  vision,  to  swell  to  mountain  magni- 
tude, and  finally  to  fill  the  whole  earth,  the  monarch 
was  informed  that  "  in  the  days  of  these  kings  the 
God  of  heaven  should  set  up  a  kingdom,  which  should 
never  be  destroyed :  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left 
to  other  people,  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces,  and  con- 
sume all  these  kingdoms,  ant^  it  shall  stand  for  ever. 
(And)  forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  that  the  stone  was  cut 
out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  and  that  it  brake  in 
pieces  the  iron,  the  brass,  the  clay,  the  silver,  and  the 
gold ;  the  great  God  hath  made  known  to  the  king 
what  shall  come  to  pass,  hereafter."*  This  magnificent 
result  is  more  explicitly  detailed  in  a  subsequent  vision 
with  its  corresponding  explanation.  "  I  saw  in  the 
mighty  visions,  and  behold  one  like  the  Son  of  man 
came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  came  to  the  An- 
cient of  days,  and  they  brought  him  near  before  him. 

*  Dan.  2.  3S-45. 


264  TREATISE  ON 

And  there  was  given  him  dominion,  and  glory,  and  a 
kingdom,  that  all  people  and  nations  and  languages 
should  serve  him :  his  dominion  is  an  everlasting  do- 
minion which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom 
that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed.  I,  Daniel,  was 
grieved  in  my  spirit  in  the  midst  of  my  body,  and  the 
visions  of  my  head  troubled  me.  I  came  near  unto 
one  of  them  that  stood  by,  and  asked  him  the  truth 
(meaning)  of  all  this.  So  he  told  me,  and  made  me 
know  the  interpretation  of  the  things.  These  great 
beasts,  which  are  four,  are  four  kings  (kingdoms), 
which  shall  arise  out  of  the  earth.  But  the  saints  of 
the  Most  High  shall  take  the  kingdom,  and  possess  the 
kingdom  for  ever,  and  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the  king- 
dom and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom 
under  the  whole  heaven  shall  be  given  to  the  people 
of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an 
everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and 
obey  him."* 

Now  if  this,  according  to  the  prevailing  impression, 
be  indeed  prophetic  of  that  period  familiarly  denomi- 
nated the  Millennium,  how  comes  it  to  be  announced 
in  such  unqualified  terms,  on  the  score  of  duration  ? 
Here  is  nothing  indicating  ni  the  slightest  degree  that 
after  the  lapse  of  a  thousand  years  so  tremendous  a 
reverse  was  to  ensue  as  usually  enters  into  the  antici- 
pations of  the  Christian  world  ;  nothing  which  would 
intimate  that  the  sun  of  that  beatific  day,  after  a  bright 
Millennial  circuit,  was  to   set  in  the   dreary  night  o£  o, 

*  Pan.  7.  13-^7. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  265 

grand  and  almost  universal  apostasy.  On  the  contrary, 
the  language  plainly  bespeaks  an  era  of  unlimited  dura- 
tion. The  saints  are  to  possess  the  kingdom  for  ever 
and  ever,  implying  a  period,  not  of  eternal,  but  of  in- 
definite extent.  We  are,  therefore,  compelled  to  regard 
this  and  the  kindred  predictions  of  Daniel  and  other 
Old  Testament  prophets,  as  pointing  to  an  age  of  the 
world  entirely  distinct  from  the  Millennium  of  John, 
though  nothing  is  more  common  than  to  confound  them* 
This  conviction  is  strengthened  by  the  fact,  that  the 
event  announced  in  the  following  vision  of  the  chrono- 
logical Prophet  of  the  Old  Testament  is  to  take  place 
anterior  to  the  establishment  of  that  kingdom  of  the 
saints  to  which  allusion  has  just  been  made.  Dan.  7. 
9-11.  *I  beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,  and 
the  Ancient  of  days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white 
as  snow,  and  the  fiair  of  his  head  like  pure  wool :  his 
throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burn- 
ing fire.  A  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth  from 
before  him :  thousand  thousands  ministered  unto  him, 
and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  him : 
the  judgment  was  set  and  the  books  were  opened.  I 
beheld  then  because  of  the  voice  of  the  great  words 
which  the  horn  spake  :  I  beheld  even  till  the  beast  was 
slain,  and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given  to  the  burning 
flame.'*     Now  we  would  ask,  whether  upon  the  com- 

*  "  The  machinery  here  employed  is  so  obviously  borrowed 
from  the  great  day  of  final  retribution,  that  probably  most 
readers  are  led  to  imagine  the  subject  of  the  prediction  to  be 
the  literal  day  of  judgment :  yet,  as  we  proceed,  it  is  abundantly 
clear,  that  the  events  described  in  this  high  strain  of  poetry 
Z  2 


266  TREATISE    Olf 

mon  theory  of  the  Millennium,  any  event  answering  to 
this  august  representation  has  yet  taken  place,  or  is  at 
all  provided  for  among  the  antecedents  of  that  period  1 
Is  it  not,  on  tlie  other  hand,  uniformly  regarded  as  the 
pre-intimation  of  the  general  judgment,  although  the 
reason  of  its  introduction  in  this  connexion,  as  few 
have  examined,  so  few  can  explain?  But  the  general 
judgment  is  understood  to  follow,  not  precede  the  popu- 
lar Millennium.  Yet  this  judgment  is  most  unquestion- 
ably to  occur  prior  to  the  very  period  which  the  mass 
of  the  Christian  world  regard  as  the  period  of  the  Mil- 
lennium. How  can  these  things  be  1  On  the  hypo- 
thesis which  we  advocate,  all  difficulty  is  removed  ;  on 
any  other,  it  is  insuperable. 

all  take  place  upon  earth,  long  before  the  dissolution  of  our 
present  mundane  system,  and  long  before  the  iz/erai  judgment 
both  of  the  quick  and  the  dead.  The  thrones  are  placed,  in- 
deed, and  the  Ancient  of  days  takes  his  seat  upon  the  tribunal ; 
but  the  whole  of  ihis  is  done  for  the  sole  purpose  of  temporally 
judging  and  destroying  the  corrupt  Roman  Empire  ;  which  by 
the  machinations  of  the  little  horn,  had  been  seduced  into  doc- 
trinal apostasy  and  into  active  persecution.  Accordingly,  as 
the  Roman  Empire  neither  is,  nor  could  be,  judged  anywhere 
save  in  this  present  world ;  so,  even  when  the  judgment  in 
question  is  closed^  Messiah  and  his  saints  have  a  kingdom  allot- 
ted to  them  under  the  whole  heaven.  But  if  this  allotted 
kingdom  be  under  the  whole  heaven,  then,  indisputably,  it 
must  be  upon  this  present  earth.  Hence  we  clearly  learn,  that 
the  judgment,  described  by  Daniel,  occurs  in  the  world  which 
we  now  inhabit :  and  hence  also,  because  circumstances  are 
said  to  follow  it  which  plainly  cannot  follow  the  literal  day  of 
judgment,  we  no  less  clearly  learn,  that  it  long  precedes  the 
literal  judgment-day  at  the  universal  consummation." — Faber\ 
Sac.  Calend.  of  Proph.  vol.  i.  p.  222. 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  267 

The  beast  here  mentioned,  as  the  object  of  this  wast- 
ing judgment,  is  expressly  affirmed  to  be  identical  with 
the  fourth  or  Roman  kingdom  of  the  vision,  of  which 
it  is  said,  that  it  was  to  be  "  diverse  from  all  king- 
doms, and  should  devour  the  whole  earth,  and  should 
tread  it  down,  and  break  it  in  pieces."  It  is  upon 
this  bestial  sovereignty,  another  name  for  the  col- 
lective body  of  the  modern  European  kingdoms  which 
sprung  from  the  old  Roman  Empire,  and  which  are  re- 
garded in  prophecy  as  a  prolongation  of  its  being,  that 
the  fiery  judgment  is  to  sit,  "  to  take  away  its  dominion, 
to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  to  the  end ;"  after  which 
it  is,  that  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven  is  to  be 
given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High. 
Now  the  fourth  Beast  of  Daniel  is  confessedly  the 
seven-headed  and  ten-horned  Beast  of  the  Revelation, 
which  succeeded  the  Dragon,  and  whose  reigning  ca- 
reer is  to  be  wound  up  with  the  expiration  of  the  period 
of  1260  years  from  its  commencement,  an  epoch  to  the 
borders  of  which  we  have  now,  in  the  revolution  of 
centuries,  and  the  eventuations  of  Providence,  very 
closely  approximated.  The  downfall  of  these  despotic 
governments,  in  consequence  of  the  spread  and  influence 
of  liberal  principles  among  the  great  mass  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Europe,  is  the  appointed  precursor  in  the 
counsels  of  Heaven  to  the  ushering  in  of  the  ecumenical 
empire  of  Christ  and  his  saints.  The  event  we  sup- 
pose to  be  alluded  to  in  the  expression — "  I  beheld  till 
the  thrones  were  cast  down ;"  i.  e.  the  thrones  of  the 
existing  monarchies  of  Christendom,  every  one  of  which 
is  a  nuisance  to  the  earth,  that  must  be  swept  away  be- 
fore the   advances   of   the  kingdom   of  righteousness. 


268  TREATISE    ON 

For  "  where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  hberty."' 
But  true  liberty  cannot  consist  with  hereditary  sover- 
eignty in  any  portion  of  the  globe.  Putting  a  crown 
on  the  head  of  a  king  is  putting  an  extinguisher  on  the 
lamp  of  freedom.  And  accordingly,  in  the  sublime  an- 
nunciation of  the  period  in  question,  which  we  affirm  to 
be  a  period  of  unlimited  continuance,  and  which  is  in- 
troduced by  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  it  is 
said.  Rev.  11.  15.  'And  the  seventh  angel  sounded; 
and  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying.  The  king- 
doms of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord,  and  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and 
ever.'  By  this  is  intended,  that  the  pernicious,  but  tol- 
erated, domination  which  had  hitherto  been  exercised 
by  the  sceptre-bearing  powers  of  this  world  was  to 
come  to  an  end  by  being  merged  in  the  high  and  holy, 
the  benign  and  welcome,  lordship  of  the  King  of  saints, 
who  was  to  be  crowned  with  many  crowns,  and  to  re- 
ceive the  willing  homage  of  a  regenerated  world.* 

*  "  Here  again  the  machinery  is  borrowed  from  the  great 
day  of  final  retribution  :  yet  it  is  perfectly  clear,  that  the  day  of 
judgment  thus  described  cannot  be  the  literal  day  of  judgment. 
At  the  literal  day  of  judgment,  this  world  is  brought  to  a  dost ; 
and  nothing  terminated  succeeds  it.  But  the  day  of  judgment 
described  by  St.  John,  like  that  described  by  Daniel,  is  folloived 
by  various  important  transactions  upon  the  identical  earth  which 
we  now  inhabit.  Christ  and  his  saints  reign  a  thousand  years, 
Satan  deceives  the  nations  which  are  in  the  four  quarters  of  the 
earth,and  therefore  obviously  upon  the  earth :  these  nations  hav- 
ing formed  themselves  into  a  great  anti-christian  confederacy, 
go  up  on  the  breadth  of  the  earth  ;  and  therefore  still  upon  the 
earth,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  the  saints  and  the  beloved 
city  :  fire  from  heaven  destroys  them  :  and  at  length  the  literal 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  269 

But  as  a  change  like  this  in  the  existing  state  of  things 
could  not  be  effected  without  violent  revolutions,  involv- 
ing the  downfall  of  governments,  the  ostracism  of  privi- 
leged orders,  the  cessation  of  long-established  usages, 
the  proscription  of  inveterate  opinions ;  in  a  word,  the 
upheaving  of  the  ancient  foundations  of  society  ;  it  is  not 
unfitly  represented  by  the   imagery  of  a  sitting 'judg- 
ment,' especially  as   the  whole  is  to  be  accomplished 
under  the  immediate  overruling  providence  of  God.     It 
is  obvious,  moreover,  that  no  short  period  of  time  is 
necessary  for  the  production  of  a  result  so  stupendous. 
Being  a  change  which  is  to  be  effected  by  the   opera- 
tion of  moral.,  and  not  by  miraculous  agency,  it  must  be 
gradual  in  its  accomplishment ;  and  although  in  our  own 
day  the  elements  are  beginning  to  work,  and  the  incipient 
developments  to  display  themselves,  yet  the  present  gen- 
eration may  be  permitted  to  see  but  a  very  few  pages 
unrolled  of  the  great  volume  of  destiny.     Death,  the 
ruthless  interrupter,  will  doubtless  throw  his  impene- 
trable films  before  our  eyes,  and  hide  from  us  all  but 
the  early  dawn  of  that  day  which  is  even  now  spreading 
its    light  upon    the    mountains.     But   '  instead  of  the 

day  of  judgment  arrives,  when  the  dead,  both  small  and  great, 
stand  before  God,  Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, which  the  apostle  describes  as  commencing  with  the 
seventh  Apocalyptic  trumpet,  cannot  be  the  literal  da.y  of  judg- 
ment at  the  end  of  the  world.  In  fact,  it  not  only  precedes 
the  literal  day  of  judgment  by  more  than  a  thousand  years  ; 
but,  like  the  parallel  judgment  described  by  Daniel,  it  com- 
mences upon  earth.,  and  has  for  its  object  the  temporal  destruc- 
tion of  the  self-same  apostatic  Roman  Empire." — Faher^a 
Sac.  Calend.  of  Proph.  vol.  i.  p.  224. 


270  TREATISE    ON 

fathers  shall  be  the  children.'  The  men  of  another 
generation  shall  arise  to  push  forward  the  fortunes  of 
the  world.  They  shall  behold  the  morning-tide  waxing 
brighter  and  brighter  to  the  perfect  day,  and  finally 
rejoice  in  the  effulgence  of  its  high  meridian. 

"  So  God  hath  greatly  purposed. — 
Haste  then,  and  wheel  away  a  shattered  world, 
Ye  slow-revolving  seasons  !  we  would  see 
(A  sight  to  which  our  eyes  are  strangers  yet} 
A  world  that  does  not  hate  and  dread  His  laws, 
And  suffer  for  its  crime  ;  would  learn  how  fair 
The  creature  is  that  God  pronounces  good." 

COWPER. 

We  have  remarked  that  according  to  the  prevailing 
sentiments  of  Christians,  that  felicitous  and  glorious 
state  of  the  church  which  forms  the  burden  of  the  closing 
predictions  of  Isaiah,  when  the  valleys  shall  be  exalted, 
and  the  mountains  and  hills  made  low ;  and  the  crooked 
shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain — 
when  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see 
it  together — when  the  gentiles  shall  come  to  the  light 
of  Zion,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  her  rising — when 
instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir-tree,  and  in- 
stead of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle-tree- — when 
for  brass  shall  be  brought  gold,  for  iron  silver,  and  for 
wood  brass,  and  for  stones  iron — when  Jerusalem  shall 
be  created  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy — when  the 
voice  of  weeping  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  her,  nor  the 
voice  crying — when  the  wolf  and  the  lamb  shall  feed 
together,  and  the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  bullock, 
and  they  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  the  Lord's 


THE    MILLENNIUM.  271 

holy  mountain, — this  surpassingly  blissful  state,  we  say, 
is  usually  considered  as  corresponding  chronologically 
with  the  Millennium  of  John.  But  this  predicted  state, 
it  will  be  found  on  examination,  is  identical  with  the 
'  new  heavens  and  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteous- 
ness,' and  which,  according  to  the  Apostle  Peter,  is  to 
he  preceded  by  what  is  generally  deemed  to  be  the  final 
conflagration  of  the  earth.  We  would  ask,  then,  what 
collocation,  in  point  of  time,  is  to  be  assigned  to  this 
great  event  ?  '  The  day  of  the  Lord,'  says  the  Apostle, 
*  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night ;  in  the  which  the 
heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  ele- 
ments shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and 
the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burned  up.  Never- 
theless we,  according  to  his  promise,  look  for  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteous- 
ness.' Here,  then,  allusion  is  made  to  a  special  promise 
contained  in  some  other  part  of  the  scriptures,  by  which 
we  are  taught  to  expect  a  superlatively  happy  period  to 
ensue,  notwithstanding  so  great  an  event  as  the  prece- 
dent passing  away  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  But 
the  promise  here  referred  to  is  no  other  than  a  part  of 
the  prophetic  intimations  of  Isaiah  in  that  very  series  of 
predictions  which  we  have  already  cited  as  pointing  to 
the  period  of  the  popular  Millennium.  For  it  is  after 
the  assurance — '  behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a 
new  earth' — that  the  strain  of  prophecy  goes  on  to  depict 
the  felicities  of  that  self-same  state  which  is  supposed 
to  be  identical  with  the  Apocalyptic  Millennium.  The 
inference  is  inevitable,  that  if  Isaiah  and  John  have 
respect  in  their  predictions  to  the  same  period,  the  con- 


272  TilEATlSE    ON 

flagralion  is  to  precede  the  Millennium.  This  claims 
a  very  attentive  consideration  from  those  who  may  not 
be  prepared  to  admit  the  views  advocated  in  the  fore- 
going pages. 

For  ourselves,  we  are  well  persuaded  that  the  above- 
mentioned  class  of  O.  T.  prophecies  has  no  relation 
whatever,  but  that  of  centurial  posteriority,  to  the  Mil- 
lennium announced  in  the  Revelation.  The  only  por- 
tions of  this  latter  book  referring  to  the  same  period  are 
those  contained  in  the  two  last  chapters,  giving  a  de- 
scription of  '  the  holy  city,  the  New  Jerusalem,  coming 
down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  adorned  as  a  bride  for  her 
husband,'  and  shadowing  forth  a  triumphant  and  blessed 
state  of  the  church  on  earth — a  state  not  bounded  by 
any  special  limitation  of  years.  As  to  the  conflagra- 
tion of  Peter,  we  are  compelled,  with  Mede  and  others, 
to  regard  it  as  denoting  not  a  literal,  but  a  figurative,  con- 
flagration, adumbrating  the  close  of  a  dispensation,  the 
violent  abrogation  of  a  previous  order  of  things,  the  dis- 
solution and  prostration  of  the  entire  fabric  of  govern- 
ments, and  policies,  and  systems  formerly  subsisting  and 
essentially  at  variance  with  the  genius  of  that  new  and 
happier  economy  which  was  to  be  introduced.  In  de- 
scribing this  great  and  momentous  change  as  a  destruc- 
tion of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  by  fire,  the  Apostle  is 
merely  adopting  the  lofty  and  grandiloquent  style  of 
the  former  prophets,  who  frequently  represent  great  rev- 
olutions, whether  secular  or  ecclesiastical,  under  the 
imagery  of  fires,  earthquakes,  the  removal  of  moun- 
tains and  islands,  the  falling  of  stars,  the  departing  of 
the  heavens  as  a  scroll,  and  the  wreck  as  it  were  of  the 


THE    MILLENNIUM,  273 

whole  terraqueous  and  planetary  system.*  Thus  Isaiah, 
Ch.  24,  speaking  of  an  event  of  this  kind,  says ;  "  Be- 
hold, the  Lord  maketh  the  earth  empty,  and  maketh  it 
waste,  and  turneth  it  upside  down,  and  scattereth  abroad 
the  inhabitants  thereof. — The  earth  mourneth  and  lan- 
guisheth,  the  world  languisheth  and  fadeth  away. — The 
curse  hath  devoured  the  earth,  and  they  that  dwell  therein 
are  desolate  :  Therefore,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are 
burned,  and  few  men  left. — The  windows  from  on  high 
are  opened,  and  the  foundations  of  the  earth  do  shake. 
The  earth  is  utterly  broken  down,  the  earth  is  clean  dis- 
solved, the  earth  is  moved  exceedingly.  The  earth  shall 
reel  to  and  fro  like  a  drunkard,  and  shall  be  removed 
like  a  cottage  ;  and  the  transgression  thereof  shall  be 
heavy  upon  it ;  and  it  shall  fall  and  not  rise  again."  So 
also  Ch.  34.  2-4.  where  the  Most  High  declares  his  in- 
dignation to  be  upon  all  nations,  and  his  fury  upon  all 
Iheir  armies,  he  moreover  affirms,  that  "  all  the  host  of 
heaven  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  heavens  shall  be  rolled 
together  as  a  scroll :  and  all  their  host  shall  fall  down, 
as  the  leaf  falleth  off  from  the  vine,  and  as  a  falling  fig 
from  the  fig-tree."  Thus  also  Nah.  1.  5.  where  the  ju- 
dicial vengeance  of  God  against  his  enemies  is  intimated, 
it  is  said,  "  The  mountains  quake  at  him,  and  the  hills 
melt,  and  the  earth  is  burned  at  his  presence,  yea,  the 
world  and  all  that  dwell  therein." 

*  "  Great  earthquakes,  and  the  shaking  of  heaven  and  earth, 
so  as  to  distract  and  overthrow  them ;  the  creating  a  new 
heaven  and  earth,  and  the  passinjj  away  of  an  old  one,  or  th* 
beginning  and  end  of  a  world,  (are  put)  for  the  rise  and  ruin  of 
a  body  politic,  signified  thereby." — Sir  I.  JVewtoii's  Observ.  on 
the  Proph.  part  i.  ch.  2. 

Aa 


274  TREATISE    ON 

These  passages  afford,  we  apprehend,  a  clew  to  the 
parallel  language  of  Peter.  And  if  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  be  described  by  terms  borrowed  from  the  final 
consummation  of  all  things,  we  see  not  why  such  a  stu- 
pendous moral  revolution  as  that  which  is  to  precede  the 
new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  may  not  properly  be 
shadowed  out  by  the  elevated  diction  of  the  Apostle. 
The  words,  therefore,  like  most  other  of  the  propheti- 
cal phrases  which  we  have  had  occasion  to  consider,  de- 
note not  a  sudden,  but  a  gradual  and  progressive  aboli- 
tion of  the  things  previously  existing.*  The  destruction 
of  the  mundane  sphere  by  fire  denotes  the  wasting  visita- 

*  "  The  Holy  Ghost,  therefore,  shovs^s  us  affirmatively  and 
explicitly,  that  the  old  heaven  and  earth  are  removed  to  make 
way  for  a  new  heaven  and  new  earth,  that  is,  a  new  govern- 
ment and  a  new  people,  as  we  have  before  shown  these  symbols 
signify.  Now  I  say  that  the  removal  of  the  old  heaven  and 
earth,  and  the  introduction  of  the  new  heaven  and  earth,  are 
symbols  of  a  prophecy  which  has  not  its  accomplishment  in  a 
sudden  revolution  or  moment,  but  in  progress  of  time;  that  is, 
the  new  heaven  and  earth  begin  to  be  constituted,  and  have  the 
beginning  of  their  existence,  as  the  constitution  of  the  old 
heaven  and  earth  wears  away,  which  is  done  by  steps.  And 
whereas  some  people  are  apt  to  fancy  a  thorough  change  in  the 
visible  constitution  of  the  universe  as  to  the  heavenly  bodies, 
this  is  not  only  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  the  prophetical 
style,  which  assumes  these  objects  merely  for  symbols  of  the 
political  world,  but  also  contrary  to  the  constant  opinion  of  the 
primitive  fathers,  who,  as  I  have  shown  elsewhere,  understood 
this  renovation  as  we  have  explained  it.  And  if  there  be  any 
alteration  in  the  visible  frame  of  nature,  it  is  only  as  a  conse- 
quence or  necessary  condition,  to  make  this  earth  and  heaven  a 
proper  receptacle  of  the  glorified  saints." — Dauhuz''  Perpet. 
Comtnent.  p.  9G4. 


THE  MII,LENNH7M.  ^75 

tions  of  the  wrath  of  heaven  upon  the  entire  fabric  of 
those  ancient  policies,  oppressions,  and  delusions,  under 
which  the  earth  had  so  long  groaned.     It  is  the  passing 
away  of  the  old  constitution  of  the  world.     The  *  ele- 
ments' of  error  were  to  be  dissolved  and  '  melted'  by  the 
purifying  fire  of  truth  ;    while  the  new  heavens  and  the 
new  earth  are  but  another  name  for  that  renovated  order 
of  things,  moral,  mental,  and  political,  which  is  the  nat- 
ural result  of  the  universal  and  genuine  influence  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.     Let  the  religion  of  the  Bible  have 
but  its  legitimate  operation,  let  it  do  its  '  perfect  work' 
among  men,  and  it  would  inevitably  effect  a  complete 
transformation  in  the  state  of  the  world — one  fitly  rep- 
resented by  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth,  an  expres- 
sion pointing  to  21.  moral  instead  of  a  phiysical  renovation. 
And  this  we  apprehend  to  be  in  fact  the  state  which  is 
now  to  be  anticipated  by  the  Christian  world.     Discard- 
hig  as  a  fond,  but  fallacious  dream,  the  idea  of  any  par- 
ticular period  of  a  thousand  years  to  be  distinguished  by 
unprecedented  prosperity,  peace,  and  triumph  to   the 
church,  and  to  be  followed  by  a  proportionably  calami- 
tous reverse,  we  are  to  look  upon  the  page  of  prophecy 
as  disclosing  far  other  and  brighter  prospects  to  the  eye 
of  faith.    Fully  and  adequately  to  unfold  these  prospects 
would  be  to  enter  into  a  minute  exposition  of  the  two 
concluding  chapters  of  the  Apocalypse  in  which  they 
are  so  fiilly,  though  mystically,  shadowed  forth.     But 
as  the  specific  design  of  the  present  work  does  not  em« 
brace  such  an  investigation,  we  shall  wave  an  entrance 
upon  it,  especially  as  a  volume  of  no  mean  dimensions 
would  be  requisite  for  a  thorough  canvassing  of  the 


2'76  TREATISE  on 

points  which  it  would  necessarily  involve.  We  barely 
remark  that  the  canons  of  exegesis  by  which  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  book  of  Revelation  is  to  be  governed, 
particularly  in  what  relates  to  the  future,  are  not  yet  in- 
vested with  that  demonstrative  certainty  in  the  estima- 
tion of  Christians,  which  would  warrant  the  extended 
developement  of  our  private  views  upon  the  subject. 
We  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  a  process  of  inquiry 
instituted  with  reference  to  that  point,  would  result 
in  the  conviction,  that  many  of  the  Scriptural  repre- 
sentations which  are  now  generally  understood  of  the 
heavenly  state^  or  of  the  scene  of  eternal  blessedness 
in  another  world,  do  in  reality  describe  a  state  of  things 
which  is  yet  to  ensue  on  earth,  and  of  which  mortal 
men,  inhabiting  houses  of  clay,  are  to  be  the  happy  wit- 
nesses, objects,  agents,  and  chroniclers.  "  And  I  heard 
a  great  voice  out  of  heaven,  saying.  Behold  the  taber- 
nacle of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  will  dwell  with  them, 
and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  be 
with  them,  and  be  their  God.  And  God  shall  wipe  all 
tears  from  their  eyes ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death, 
neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain  :  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away. 
And  he  that  sat  upon  the  throne  said,  Behold,  I  make  ail 
things  new." 

"  O  scenes  surpassing  fable,  and  yot  true, 
Scenes  of  accomplished  bliss  !  which  who  can  see, 
Though  but  in  distant  prospect,  and  not  feel 
His  soul  refreshed  with  foretaste  of  the  joy  ? 


One  song  employs  all  nations. — 

The  dwellers  in  the  vales  and  on  the  rocks 


THE   MILLENNIUM.  277 

Shout  to  each  other,  and  the  mountain-tops 
From  distant  mountains  catch  the  flying  joy, 
Till,  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain,    . 
Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosanna  round." 

COWPER. 


THE    END. 


I 


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TRAVELLERS.     By  J.  A.  St. 

John.    3  vols.  18mo. 

LIFE  OF  FREDERIC  THE  SE- 
COND. By  Lord  Dover.  In 
2  vols.  18mo.    Portrait. 

SKETCHES  FROM  VENETIAN 
HISTORY.  In  2  vols.  18mo. 
With  Plates. 

HISTORY  OF  BRITISH  INDIA, 
from  the  most  remote  period  to 

'  the  present  time.  By  Eight  po- 
pular Authors,  3  vols.  13mo. — 
With  Engraviags. 

HISTORY  OF  IKELAND.     In  2 

vols.  18mo.    By  W.  C.  Taylor, 
Esq.    With  Engravings. 
LIFE  OF  WICLIF.    By  C.  W.  Lb 
Ba9,  A.M.     ISmo.    Portrait, 

THE  CONSISTENCY  OF  REVE- 
LATION with  itself  and  with 
Human  Reason.  By  Philii»  Ni- 
cholas Bhuttlkworth,  D.D. 
l^mo. 


DATE  DUE 

'r*"^*^ 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U    S.A 

I 


